Haunted
by Sarah-Helen
Summary: What if Max really left at the end of Departure? And what if he never knew Liz didn't sleep with Kyle? Plz rr! thx UPDATED AGAIN 150605
1. Painful Memories

Liz Parker stood pounding her hands on the pod chamber door, tears were rolling down her cheeks and screams of fear and anger flew out of her mouth.  
  
'MAX!!'  
  
Her screams were stilled for a second as the ground beneath her began to crack and crumble, but quickly they renewed themselves with an added note of despair. The ground around her was rolling away into a landslide but she wouldn't move. 'It was Tess. she killed Alex,' she cried, her voice cracking with tears.  
  
Suddenly Liz was wrenched away from the door, crying and screaming as Maria DeLuca and Kyle Valenti pulled her to safer ground. Liz collapsed onto the warm sand of the desert as the large rock containing the Granolith crumbled away to reveal the glowing mass it held. The Granolith burst from the ground with a deafening blast and shot into the sky.  
  
'I loved you!' shouted Liz after the small space ship. She flung her head onto the sand and began to cry uncontrollably.  
  
***  
  
Liz Parker smoothed the crumbled page of her journal and stared down at her mug of steaming coffee. Her eyes were filled with tears and her face showed a mixture of mangled emotions.  
  
She dropped her head into her hands and sighed. Why was she haunted with that memory every second of the day? It had been two years since then! Why couldn't she forget?  
  
She could hardly remember the first three months after Max had left. She remembered crying a lot, and not getting much sleep. But the she had got ill, almost all of that was a blur, the only clear thing was the picture of the Granolith being ripped away from her.  
  
Then she, Kyle and Maria had graduated, that day everything had seemed bitter and wrong. Three people were missing from that day who should have been there..  
  
Kyle had left Roswell as soon as he could, he had gone to Berkley University to study Sport, all he had wanted to do was move on and block out the memory of that small blonde girl who had made a fool out of him. But Maria and Liz? They had lingered in Roswell, they both agreed that it was just a gap year, a good excuse. Every morning Liz had woken up wondering if this was meant to be her wedding day, her quietness had increased and the only person she would really talk to was Maria, but then that stopped too.  
  
About half way through the year Liz made her first big decision and she and Maria left for Sweden. Liz smiled as she remembered Maria thoughts about the trip, she just hadn't understood. Going to Sweden was Liz' way of fulfilling a promise to Alex, he would never be forgotten, everyone knew that, but the way Liz saw it at least one of them should see Sweden. Alex had talked about how amazing the Northern Lights were so Liz would see them for him!  
  
Even through her own pain Liz could still see Maria was hurting. She knew Maria was trying to stay strong for her but even so, part of Maria's spark had left along with Michael. And so Maria had gone with Liz, they were keeping each other sane and alive.  
  
It had been one night in Sweden that Liz' life had really come to a turning point. Liz left Maria sleeping and walked out into the night to watch the northern Lights. Under their gentle glow Liz cried, she cried for Max, for Alex and what they had all lost.  
  
After that night the grieving, lonely Liz Parker had gone from the eyes of the world, she was replaced with a Liz Parker with a purpose, a Liz Parker whose emotions were gone. Even the ones with Max? Liz' heart ached every time she thought of Max but that ache of love had long since been replaced with one of anger. He had betrayed her, he had abandoned her! Her feelings were only increased by the fact she could still sense the connection they had. It was still there, a bitter reminder of everything that was gone.  
  
As the door behind her opened Liz snapped back into reality, her face immediately glazed as she turned to face Maria.  
  
Maria wondered out of her room wearing a bath robe and clutching a towel, she saw Liz sitting at the table with her head in her hands. Her heart swelled, why did Liz have to pretend she was fine?  
  
'Hey,' she said sleepily. She raised the towel and began to dry her wet hair.  
  
'Morning.'  
  
'What you doing today?' yawned Maria as she slumped herself down into a chair.  
  
Liz closed her journal and got up to make a second cup of coffee. 'Nothing much, I thought  
  
I'd head over to the lab, do some more research. You?'  
  
'Oh, I have a lecture this morning and then I have to practice for the practical tomorrow.'  
  
Liz nodded and placed the hot mug down in front of her best friend. Las Cruses University, thought Liz with an ironic smile. The last place in the world she had thought she would end up. In a way most of the disasters in her life had centered around this small university, Alex' death, searching for Leandre, finding about Tess' pregnancy. And now she was here, sharing a small flat with Maria and studying Science!  
  
'You gonna use Alex' guitar for you practical?' asked Liz her eyes wondering to where the small instrument stood in the corner. She remembered the last time she had watched Alex use it and then she thought of Sweden. It had seemed in a way that he was always there with them, on that night in Sweden under the Northern Lights it had seemed that he had been hugging her in that way he had always done before. He was here now, in their apartment.  
  
Maria nodded, 'How's your research going?' she asked eyeing Liz' face. 'Are you sure it's safe?'  
  
Maria watched as an emotion flicked across Liz' face. She saw how much Liz' face had changed, every curve had become a corner and the warm brown of her eyes had become a stony Grey. 'Liz, you would tell me if something happened wouldn't you?' asked Maria worriedly.  
  
'Yeah, yeah, course I would.' said Liz a little too quickly as she turned away. 


	2. A Visitor

Liz pushed open the door of the lab and walked in distractedly.  
  
'Morning Liz.'  
  
'Oh, morning Professor.' replied Liz snapping out of her train of thought. She dropped her books on the table and wandered over to where her research was set out.  
  
Looking down at her work, Liz again read the top of the page. 'The human brain', she mouthed and a smile spread across her face.  
  
The professor studied her attentively from where he stood. She was a strange young girl, but her research into the unused part of the human brain was, well, it was amazing to say the least! She had thought of ideas and researched possibilities that hadn't even occurred to all the brightest minds in the world. In one year here she had accomplished more and most did in three!  
  
But at the back of his mind lingered worry, he felt afraid for her. When she had first come to the University she had just got over a life threatening condition and now barely a year after she was working day and night with out breaks. She seemed driven by some immense force, and when he looked into her eyes what he saw scared him. This small brown haired girl was hiding herself behind a mask of bitter anger and resentment. All of her facial features that should have been soft and gentle were hard and angry, and the mouth that should have been molded into a sweet smile was set and unforgiving. Something very bad must have happened to her to make her become like this, whatever it was had possibly destroyed one of gods most beautiful creations..  
  
Liz felt the professor's eyes on the back of her neck, what was he thinking about? Shielding her hands form his sight, Liz raised her right hand and waved it above the other hand. Her nails became a vibrant colour of pink. Liz straightened up, a grin spread across her face. It worked!  
  
Liz felt the sense of accomplishment sweep over her, she had managed to do what she had come to do! Now when the time came she could go and kick some Tess sized butt!  
  
'Oh there you are!' said the professor to a tall, dark haired girl who was standing in the doorway. 'Liz, I'd like you to meet Serena. She's just moved here and she's going to be working with us.'  
  
Liz twisted round slowly, could she have heard right? Serena? Future Max, Serena? The girl walked over holding out her hand, Liz clasped it and gave it a friendly shake.  
  
'Hey,' said the girl.  
  
'Hi, so you've just moved here, where from?' asked Liz curiously.  
  
The professor smiled knowingly and turned away, they were gonna get on fine!  
  
Serena shot Liz a look of understanding, 'Oh it's just a small town in Canada. It's called Antar, you may have heard of it.'  
  
Liz looked at the girl for a minute and then turned to the professor. 'Umm, Professor, I'm gonna give Serena the tour, we'll be back after lunch. OK?'  
  
'Sure, go ahead.'  
  
***  
  
'So what's going on?' demanded Liz as she shut the apartment door.  
  
'Max sent me.'  
  
Liz' face went immediately cold. 'So what does the great king want? Should I book him a humble earth holiday, so he can come and see those of us he just abandoned?'  
  
Serena looked at Liz in surprise, 'He said you'd help.'  
  
'Oh, I'll bet he did. Liz Parker will give up everything again just for me!'  
  
'He needs your help!' insisted Serena.  
  
'What does he need a new hand maiden? Or maybe he just wants to get me there so he can betray me again? Why the hell does he think I should help him? Sure he saved my life! But that was repaid. And as far as I can see that was the only hold he had left on me, he got rid of all the others when he hopped onboard his little space ship and left me here!'  
  
'Queen Ava must be stopped!' shouted Serena, interrupting Liz' speech.  
  
'What so he's only just realised?'  
  
'Max, Michael and Isabel's executions are at dawn! Please! Don't let my king die!' cried Serena, her eyes pleaded with Liz.  
  
Liz stood and looked at her, she saw in her mind the way Maria looked at Michael's picture, and the way the Evan's had cried when they found out their children were gone, and how Sheriff Valenti had risked everything just to keep them safe. She couldn't jut let Michael and Isabel die, none of this was their fault, she couldn't let everyone's efforts go to waste. 'Fine, I'll do it.'  
  
'Thank you! Antarians will always remember you generosity.'  
  
'Yeah, yeah, what ever! What do I need to do?' asked Liz reluctantly.  
  
'You have succeeded, you have 'powers'?'  
  
Liz looked at her in surprise, 'How did you- Oh of course, Max would have to know everything! What do I have to do?'  
  
'I will take you with me to Antar, there you must free our king!'  
  
' Ummm. what makes you think I can do this? I've only had powers for about a day and so far all I've managed to do is turn my nails this rather disgusting pink colour.'  
  
'Your powers are greater than you realise! When you get to Antar you will know how to use them! In passing to our planet everything that needs to be changed about you will automatically be adjusted to fit in.'  
  
Liz eyed her suspiciously, she didn't like the idea of someone meddling with her body. 'OK, fine, let's go.'  
  
Serena paused for a minute to study Liz, could this girl really be the same girl that Zan had spoken of? Max had talked about a gentle, sweet, loving girl but this girl here was hard and hidden.  
  
'Well?' questioned Liz with raised, impatient eyebrows.  
  
Serena raised her hand and a shimmering portal appeared, she took Liz' hand and stepped into the void. 


	3. Antar

Liz blinked, the scene around her was of a small dark room. Four faces stared at her intently, a small man began to speak.  
  
'Welcome, we have been long expecting your arrival. Today is a great day, at long last the prophecy will be fulfilled and our planets may once again unite.'  
  
Liz raised one eyebrow at him, 'Right.'  
  
A slender woman from the corner began to speak. 'My lady, I know the journey must have tired you and it grieves me to ask this of you, but please, you must go and save our king!'  
  
Liz let out a small smile. 'Take me to Queen Ava.'  
  
The smiles on the faces of the observers immediately disappeared, 'It is not advisable my lady! Queen Ava will not like it, she is very powerful!'  
  
Liz' face went cold, 'Take me to Queen Ava or leave your king to die!'  
  
Serena swallowed, 'Come, it is not far.'  
  
***  
  
Liz and Serena stood outside the great Palace. Liz stared up at the huge building in what looked like indiferance but inside emotions whirled around. So this was where Max lived, of course he would like it, servants to wait on him hand and foot, people fawning over him every spare second of the day. Could she live with that? No, no she couldn't, it wasn't somewhere she could be comfortable, never a spare second just to be yourself, just someone you want people to believe you are. Liz checked herself, but wasn't that all she was at the moment? Could she truly call her life happy? Call it the kind of life she actually wanted to lead? And could she in all honesty claim to be the same Liz Parker she used to be? And more to the point, did she even want to?  
  
Liz slowly shook her head, why was everything so confusing? Looking back at the building she saw it in a different light. This wasn't just a building, this was a heart and soul of a planet, this was the place people looked to for help, for reasurance. Or at least they used too, now all they had was a blood thirsty tyrant and a self-centered queen. Could she really just leave these people to this? Was this what they deserved? But did they deserve Max? A king who was too weak to keep his pants up at the first sign of trouble? A king who hurt his friends and abandoned his loved ones? Or perhaps a king who couldn't pick the bad apples from a bunch even if they jumped out and bit him on the ass? How could these people live with someone like that? Liz felt a dull ache of guilt begin to consume her as she thought of what she was leaving these innocent people to, either way they turned they would be left with a bad king!  
  
Liz shook herself inside, why was she even worrying about this? This wasn't her problem! her problem was killing Tess and saving Michael and Isabel's lives! And that was something she was going to do, even if it killed her in the process! She turned to Serena who was staring at her in confusion, 'Let's go.'  
  
'Oh Liz, I dare not! If I am seen here it will be known that I am the leader of the resistance, and I will be killed, the resistance will fall apart!'  
  
Liz looked at the woman who stood beside her, this girl was just like her, sacrificing everything for Max without even knowing who he really was! Liz smiled at Serena, 'Sure, it's OK. Just give me directions.'  
  
Serena smiled back at Liz, this was more like the girl Max had described, was it possible that perhaps all this was an act?  
  
***  
  
'Queen Ava, you have a visitor.'  
  
Tess sighed, 'Who is it? I don't have time for this! The execution is only a few hours away!'  
  
'She did not give a name, ma'am, but I had trouble getting her to wait, she seems to have important news.'  
  
'Very well, send her in! And send Lord Kivar to me as soon as she leaves!'  
  
Tess walked over to the window and stared out, a small smile danced upon her lips. Everything was going perfectly! Soon this planet would belong to her and Kivar. Kivar, a small sigh escaped her, so great a king and he was hers, all hers!  
  
'Good evening Tess, remember me?'  
  
That voice! It couldn't be! Tess swung round. 'Liz?' she gasped.  
  
'Surprise!'  
  
'But-'  
  
'Seems a little strange doesn't it, to be standing here again. Seeing each other once again, after all these years. It's been two years hasn't it, almost to the day. And how many days since Alex' death? Seven Hundred and fifty I think, I've been counting. Counting how many days have gone past that Alex lost, because of you! Because all you cared about was coming home, and coming back to power!' Liz began to walk towards Tess, Tess backed away in fear. A flame of anger was burning in Liz' eyes and a red light radiated from her body. 'And the rest of us? Kyle, Maria and me? Kyle loved you, he thought you were like a sister! And you made him carry Alex' body! Maria? You took Michael away from her! One of the only people she could trust, you killed one and ripped the other away. And me?' Liz let out a small laugh. 'Well, me! What didn't you do to me? Killed my best friend, took away my other best friends.' Liz trailed off.  
  
Tess straightened up, losing her fear, 'And Max? Aren't you forgetting him? Can't have loved you that much if he would just sleep with me and then leave you on your godforsaken little planet to die! Can he? Hmmm. Did it hurt you? Did it make you squirm to think of him and me together, sharing what you never shared? It was a good night, that first night with Max, of course you wouldn't know, he never did that with you! Perhaps it was just because he didn't love you enough!'  
  
'Perhaps a year ago that would have hurt me Tess,' spat Liz. 'But you know what, I've lived through that, I've moved on! And you're right Max and I never were much! And I don't care, the thing that mattered was Alex! And you need to pay!'  
  
Perhaps it was the slight tremor in Liz' voice that gave her away to Tess, or maybe it was the bitter tears that were welling up in her eyes.  
  
'Nice try Liz, but somehow I don't think today is your day. It was stupidity to come here as you are, a puny little human!'  
  
Liz smiled, 'I guess you're a bit behind on the news then Tess.'  
  
'Guards!'  
  
Two guards ran into the room and started towards Liz. 'Very good Tess, just perhaps not good enough!'  
  
Liz raised an arm and blasted the two guards to the ground, she walked out of the room. Tess stared after her in horror as the words, 'I'll be watching you.' Drifted back to her. 


	4. Confrontations

Liz swung her head in all directions before she dashed across the corridor away from the guards. She must be mad! What had she been thinking? Breaking into the royal palace alone? Walking up to Tess and threatening her life? And more to the point, not killing her when she had the chance?  
  
Liz stiffened up against the wall as she heard footsteps approaching. 'Don't let me be seen! Please don't let me be seen!' she thought furiously. She couldn't be caught yet, she had so much more to accomplish. Killing Tess for one!  
  
Liz breathed a sigh of relief as the guard passed her by. Who many guards did Tess have?  
  
Liz pushed off from the wall and walked swiftly down the corridor, all was silent except for her unsteady breathing. Liz stopped for a moment in the middle of the corridor to listen. Yes, there it was. That was strange, very strange! Where were all the guards running to protect Tess? Where were all the guards rushing to kill her? What was going on?  
  
Liz started walking again, hurrying even faster down the long empty route, something was wrong. How was it that the guards seemed not to know about the attack on Tess? Once again Liz shot a paranoid glance over her shoulder.  
  
'Oh my g-!' started Liz as she rammed into something soft and warm. She swung her head round swiftly coming face to face with a man. A handsome man, a breath taking man, an evil man.  
  
Crap! Thought Liz. She knew who it was! It couldn't be anyone else! Who else would walk along the corridors with such a grace and gravity? Who else would fate make her bump into?  
  
'Who are you?' asked a cruel, commanding voice.  
  
Good question! Liz began to think swiftly, what the heck should she call herself? She could bet her life that Liz Parker wasn't an Antarian name! And calling herself Serena was asking for trouble. 'Leandra!' she choked out. Leandra? Leandra? What kind of a name was that? It was probably the Antarian word for horse or something!  
  
Liz swallowed as the man continued to study her. 'Leandra. An unusual and powerful name..' said the dark man in a quiet voice. Liz continued to breath shallowly, praying that he would believe her. 'And what are you doing here Leandra?'  
  
Liz took a deep breath, well here goes, she thought. 'My lord Kivar, I have come to tour the palace, I am from far away.'  
  
Liz stood there, studying Kivar's face as he contemplated her. She hoped to heaven that Serena had given her valid excuse.  
  
'Well Leandra, it seems you have strayed off course, for you are now among the private chambers. I shall find a guide to accompany you further- no wait! I shall accompany you back to the main halls and from there, you may go on alone. You look like you seek solitude, I too seek solitude. Come follow me.'  
  
Liz followed Kivar her heart thumping in her chest. She was mad! This was pure madness! Why on earth was she attempting this? A quiet voice in the back of her head began to speak, 'Because Max asked you to! You are risking your life for him again! And for what? For him to betray you? To break your heart?'  
  
Kivar's voice interrupted her thoughts, 'Tell me a little about yourself Leandra.'  
  
Liz nearly fainted, about herself? She was once Zan's girlfriend? She was an alien here? She was here to kill his queen?  
  
'Kivar! Sir, Queen Ava is asking for you!'  
  
Kivar gave an exasperated sigh. Trust Tess to interrupt everything important! He turned back to Liz, 'I apologize Leandra but my duty calls.' The word duty was a bitter whisper, and Liz blinked as she heard it. He didn't want his duty? What duty? The running of a country? Tess? 'I have much enjoyed speaking too you! But from here you must continue alone. Try not to stray too far off course again, but I know that we will meet again soon! It is written, as certain as the paths of the stars!'  
  
Liz curtseyed, hoping it was the right thing to do and replied, 'I thank you Lord Kivar.'  
  
Kivar watched Liz' back as she walked away, his mind contemplating her. She was different to Tess. She was a queen! She was a true queen! Just the tilt of her head and the passion in her voice betrayed her true self. He could see her aragonce, feel her pain! She was a queen who had suffered before, a queen who had bitterness in her heart that would rule her. And hatred that would bind her to him! She would be a great queen! She would be his queen!  
  
He turned, 'Come! Take me to Ava!' 


	5. Rescue

Liz walked swiftly down the passage way, this was it! This had to be the one! This was the only corridor she could find that matched Serena's description. Liz' steps became swifter as she remembered her earlier encounter. Just the thought of it made he heart quicken and a tingling sensation creep it's way up her neck. Kivar. it's was just her luck that out of all the people in the palace she could run into, she had found him! Typical!  
  
And yet even as Liz pretended to laugh at the occurrence inside she was fighting her feelings. Why was she struck with terror whenever she thought of him? Why did just the memory of his voice start her looking over her shoulder in fear? Why did she feel like he was there all the time? Like he had made some claim on her? She once again shivered looking round her shoulder one last time before coming to the corner.  
  
A corner, she thought, isn't this where all bad things happen to me? I walk into people, I walk away from people, I block things out, I hide behind corners. Well this is one corner I'm sure as not gonna hide behind!  
  
Liz stepped round the corner and found herself looking at a door, a bolted door! A jail door! The right door, she was sure of it. But she also saw. a guard.  
  
Great! Just great! She thought, while eying his bulging muscles and terrifying eterior sheepishly. Well here we go again!  
  
'Good evening.'  
  
'Barrok.'  
  
'Well then.. good evening Barok.'  
  
'Excuse me madam, but this is a restricted area. But perhaps if you're free tomorrow.' his face twisted into a leering smile as he moved closer pressing himself up against her.  
  
Lis swallowed the feeling of nausia that waved over her and fixed him with her eyes 'Oh.. sorry tomorrow night's not so good for me, perhaps one the day you grow a brain! Go to hell,' she said as she blasted him into a wall.  
  
***  
  
Max sat slumped, his head in his hands. Why had he done it? Why had he left? Surely he should have remembered how he felt that day in the Crashdown with Liz' life slipping away from him! That was why he had risked everything to save her, so why had he just left her down there with some alien killer? How could he even be sure she was alive, I mean sure he still felt a vague connection but how could he be sure he wasn't just imagining it to make himself feel better?  
  
He'd slept with Tess! Why? How could he have done that to Liz, yes she slept with Kyle, but he loved her! He would have died for her, even now he would if he could. His body ached for a touch, a taste, even a smell of her. In his mind he could still see every curve of her body, every exquisite movement she made. He could even remember every sweet word she had whispered in his ear, just to hear her voice would be such welcome relief. And he had betrayed her in every way possible, and for what? Tess? How could he have been so stupid not to see through her? All she did was use him! Why?  
  
Max looked over at where Isabel sat sleeping in a corner, and then at Michael who lay sprawled across the floor dreaming of Maria. He had destroyed their lives too! Taken everything away from them, everything they loved! He had wrecked so many lives because of his hurt, his pain, no, his selfishness! A tear rolled down his cheek as he thought about what he had done, everything he had destroyed! The pain he had caused hadn't just stopped at his friends, it went on to his parents, to the Valentis and even to the people of Antar. He had given Kivar a means to rule by, and now no one could stop him.  
  
Max raised his head at the sound of voices outside, the sound of a bang and then some one playing with the lock. Oh great! Tess is back for more! thought Max as he slumped his head back in his hands. But that didn't sound like Tess, it sounded more like. 'Liz?'  
  
***  
  
Liz looked over at the guard who was slumped on the floor by her feet, she hadn't thought she could do that much. She hoped he wasn't hurt, but then again, he deserved it. She placed her hand on the lock and within seconds there was a small click. She pushed the door open and peered inside. 'Liz?'  
  
Liz' heart skipped a beat as she heard the familiar voice, and saw the familiar figure running out of the darkness towards her. When it got within a meter of her it hesitated studying her for a second. Was she just one of Tess' mind games? And then the figure leapt at her, she wasn't she couldn't be! She felt Max' strong arms wrapping themselves round her, and she felt him taking deep intakes of breath, trying to savor her smell.  
  
Max stood there in paradise, it was Liz! She was here! He was so caught up in the ecstasy of his feelings that it was quite some time before he noticed how she stood. Her body was stiff and unyielding in his arms and the face that should have worn a radiant smile was masked from him. 'Liz?' he asked quietly, unsure of himself for the first time.  
  
Liz pulled herself out of his arms and walked further into the room, away from him. Her face, now hidden from him was covered in flames of anger. Did he just think he could run up to her and everything would be forgotten? All those years of heartache? All those years of pain? She forced her face into a small smile as she leant over Isabel. 'Isabel?'  
  
Isabel stirred and then her eyes shot open, 'It can't be time yet. I'm not ready to die. I. Isabel? No one's called me that since. Liz?' she gasped in amazement. 'What, What are you doing here?' Her breath came short, was this really happening, could she really believe?  
  
'I've come to take you home.' said Liz with a reassuring smile.  
  
'Home.' asked Isabel her voice becoming immediately warm. 'You mean to Mom and Dad. I can be Isabel again, just Isabel?'  
  
Liz nodded and smiled, and then turned and walked across the room to where Michael lay. She placed a gentle hand on his shoulder and lowered her head to kiss him on the cheek.  
  
Michael lifted his head from the ground, 'Maria?' he asked drowsily.  
  
'No, it's me Liz. But Maria's waiting for you, she's been waiting for a long time!'  
  
'Have you come to take me to her?' asked Michael with hope.  
  
'Yeah, come on. Lets go.'  
  
Liz walked out of the door with Max following protectively at her heals. Max looked down in surprise at the guard, 'How-?'  
  
'Lets just say he came on to me, OK?' replied Liz without even turning to look. 'I didn't come in here unnoticed, OK, so can we please hurry up before some one notices you're gone!'  
  
Michael and Isabel sped up immediately, they were gonna go home, if they had to then they would fight, but if they didn't have to fight then that was even better! Max just followed, his head in turmoil, his heart heavy in his chest. 


	6. Home

Kivar stood staring at Tess his face a resolute calm but his eyes on fire. 'What do you mean threatened?' he asked in a hushed voice.  
  
Tess trembled, she had never seen Kivar like this before, he was more terrible than he had been before. She no longer reveled in his powerfulness but shrank from it in fear. Something was wrong. 'A girl from earth. Max'- I mean, Zan's woman. She was here, she threatened me and then she walked out.'  
  
'Why didn't you stop her?' asked Kivar, his voice still eerily calm.  
  
'I did, she blasted the guards.' Tess voice rose up a notch as her fear got the better of her.  
  
'Blasted? But I thought she was an earthling.'  
  
'I don't know! She blasted them! How should I know how she did it? Why the hell are you so calm! I was threatened!' Tess shouted finally loosing her cool.  
  
'Everyone out!' commanded Kivar, raising his voice so he could be heard. Attendants and guards scurried from the room.  
  
Tess swallowed, alone with Kivar had used to be a good thing. but now?  
  
'You will not raise your voice to me,' continued Kivar in the same hissing whisper. 'Do not forget your place Ava, you are still half human as of yet, and with that, you are weak. Do not over exadurate your position, I still have your son, and you are not my wife.. yet.'  
  
Tess blinked, was he doubting her? Threatening her brat of a son? How could he? She had given him everything he had asked of her when she arrived, handed him the other three and become his mistress! How dare he doubt her now? She had given him everything! She opened her mouth to say something as the door swung open.  
  
'I ordered to be left alone!' roar Kivar.  
  
The enormous guard gave a visible tremble, and looked inclined to flee the room just the way he had entered, but he held his ground. just. 'My lord. I have b-b-bad news. The prisoners have escaped.'  
  
'WHAT!?!'  
  
Tess, stood bolt upright, they had escaped? Liz!  
  
The guard trembled where he sat on one leg, 'The rebels h-have freed them m- my l-lord.'  
  
Kivar let out a roar and the guard collapsed to the ground as a powerful bolt of energy hit him, killing him.  
  
***  
  
Each occupant of Serena's room let out a small gasp as Liz lead the three aliens into the room. They had been lucky, queen Ava it seemed had been so taken aback by Liz' appearance that she hadn't bothered to check on the prisoners and it seemed in her own defense she had called every guard in the place to look after her own life. Kivar was going to have her alien guts for garters! Liz let out a small smile at the thought. But inside a small feeling of uncertainty gripped her, it had been too easy. why?  
  
'You did it! That first part of the prophecy has been fulfilled!' cried a small dumpy woman as she threw herself at Max' feet. 'Welcome my king!'  
  
All the others fell down in the same way as her and repeated such phrases as 'We are deeply Honored!', 'We praise you great King!' and 'I am not worthy my lord!'  
  
Liz looked on in amusement, well, it looked like Max had hit the big time! She turned to where Serena also kneeled on the floor, 'Well, I'll leave you to your worship Max session. Nice meeting you all.' She turned to where Isabel and Michael stood, 'I guess I'll be seeing you around, look me up if you come back to earth.' And then turning to Max, 'I'm glad our great King has finally found what he really deserves and where he belongs, with people who love him.' she said in a sarcastic voice as she bowed to him.  
  
Turning away from the scene she walked straight at the void. As the world around her began to slip away she heard Max' voice calling her name.  
  
***  
  
'LIZ!!' squealed Maria as Liz began to materialize out of the portal. 'What the hell is that??'  
  
'The way to Antar,' replied Liz in a matter of fact manner.  
  
'What?' squeaked Maria. 'You mean Michael's there? I can go and see him?'  
  
Liz didn't bother to reply she just walked over to the kitchen and began pouring herself some coffee. 'Yes Michael's there.' she said at last.  
  
Maria didn't wait to hear more she just ran at the portal, but before she could even get through it, Michael was standing in front of her.  
  
'Maria!' he shouted as he flung his arms around her. Maria screamed and began to cling to him, tears rolled down her face and dripped onto his shoulder.  
  
'You came back!' she said between sobs.  
  
Liz watched the scene from the kitchen as she calmly stirred her coffee. Glancing up at the void she saw Isabel beginning to emerge. Isabel stepped out and blinked at the bright world around her, she glanced around the room, her eyes lingering on Maria and Michael just a little too long, quickly she looked away, her eyes falling immediately on Alex' guitar. Liz saw the tears beginning to gather in Isabel's eyes, she walked over and lead Isabel to the sofa. She handed Isabel the mug of coffee, 'A taste of home,' she said encouragingly.  
  
'Thanks,' said Isabel wiping the tears away from her eyes. 'How are. Mom and Dad?' she asked hesitantly. 'When we left how, how were they?'  
  
'I won't lye to you, they were very upset, but they got your video and they understood eventually. They swore to keep your secret, and they were glad you were going to meet your real parents. They stayed strong. Sheriff Valenti helped, he helped lot. He'd known all of you and your secret so he was able to talk to your parents, tell them things about you that they might never have known otherwise. And they looked after Kyle, Maria and I. It was nice to have someone else there who could talk to us.'  
  
'Thank you,' said Isabel looking away from her mug of coffee and into Liz' face. Liz flushed and tried to turn away, but Isabel saw it. She saw everything before Liz' mask could come up, she saw the hurt, the anger, the fear and the loneliness. ' We never saw them.' said Isabel remembering what Liz had said. 'Our real parents.. They were killed in the fighting years ago, no one was left who loved us. We left you all behind here.' a sob caught in her throat as she went on. 'We got there and everything was chaos. Our parents were dead, all our family was dead! We were alone! I never got to meet my mom.' Isabel collapsed into tears, Liz put her arm around Isabel's shoulders in an attempt to still her pain.  
  
'Shhh.. It's OK, where ever she is now, she knows you loved her very much. She knew that long ago, right! You told her that in your past life, yeah, so she knows you care! She'll always know.'  
  
Isabel looked back at Liz' face, this time she saw the mask, it was like Liz wasn't even there, this was just a pre recorded message. 'Thank you Liz, thank you for everything. Thank you for caring, and thank you for coming back.'  
  
Liz smiled, 'Sure, no problem.' she stood up and walked over to the kitchen. 'You want something to drink Michael?'  
  
Michael looked up from Maria's face, he grinned, 'Sure, Snapple?'  
  
'Here,' Liz said as she handed one to him. 'Come and sit down, looks like you have a lot to tell us.'  
  
Isabel looked up and looked around the room, 'Where's Max?'  
  
'Right here,' he replied as he walked out from the portal. 'I had to sort a few things out with Serena, she'll be joining us later.'  
  
He walked over and sat down next to Liz, 'So ummm. what's happening?' he asked uncertainly.  
  
Maria saw Liz' face become unveiled for a second, she saw the bright flame of anger that burned there. She watched as Liz stood up and stormed out of the room. Max stood up immediately to follow her, Maria opened her mouth to say something but then closed it again, this had to happen, for Liz' sake! 


	7. Pain

'So ummm, nice place. Where are we?'  
  
Liz fixed Max with an icy stare, 'Las Cruses University,' her voice was cold and emotionless.  
  
Max looked at her with a hurt expression, 'What's going on Liz?'  
  
'God! You of all people should know! You have the nerve to even ask!' she spat back at him before walking out of the room.  
  
Maria watched Liz storm away from her room just minutes after entering. I guess it's me next! she thought as she walked towards the room.  
  
'Max?'  
  
Max was sitting on the bed with his head in his hands. What was happening? Why was Liz so cold?  
  
'She's hurting Max.'  
  
Max looked up into Maria's face.  
  
'You tore her heart in two, you betrayed her! You took everything she had and then left her here! The Liz you know is gone, she left the same time as you did.'  
  
Max' expression became one of confusion and pain.  
  
Maria nodded without smiling. 'You wonder why she won't let you near here, but that's cos she feels betrayed! You slept with Tess for, god's sake!' Anger crept into her tone.  
  
'But she. Kyle.' replied Max staring up at her.  
  
'You know she could never do that!' sighed Maria exasperatedly, Max' stare became one of disbelief. 'You want to know why she did that? Because you told her to!' spat Maria, confusion took over Max' face. 'Yes that's right, yet again Liz Parker turns her life upside down for you!'  
  
'But I never. What do you mean?' stammered Max. Had Maria gone completely mad? Why would he have asked the girl of his dreams to sleep with Kyle?  
  
'Oh not you, you! Future you! You came back from the future, fourteen bloody years later, when you and Liz were married! Tess had walked out on you all just before your enemies attacked and the rest of you got killed! You came back and told Liz about this perfect future she could never have! You forced her to make you stop loving her by making her to pretend to sleep with Kyle! Can you imagine the pain? Can you possibly imagine the strength it took to stay in that bed and pretend to love Kyle while you had your heart ripped in two by the window? She knew what you must think of her, how you must hate her, but she did it for you! She always did it for you! And even before that, can imagine what it did to her to tell you she wouldn't die for you? Her heart was ripped out, trampled on and left to die! And then you go and, god, sleep with Tess, get her pregnant and just abandon Liz! And then you come back and act like everything is normal!'  
  
Maria flung up her arms and walked to the window. Max just sat stunned by what he had just heard. What had he done? He had destroyed his Liz! The only thing precious to him in the whole universe! How could he have even believed that she could do such a thing? His eyes roamed the room for something, anything, that would show him Liz had any kind of forgiveness for him.  
  
Finally his eyes settled on a clump of medicine bottles, he looked towards Maria in confusion. Maria began to speak, it was almost as if she had sensed his question.  
  
'After you left, Liz got sick, she got really sick. The doctors did everything they could but no one could work out what was wrong and she just got worse. There was a time when we didn't think she was gonna pull through. She couldn't eat, she was so weak she could barely breathe! Her parents were going through hell, I visited her every day, spent all my free time with her in hospital. While she was ill, I hated all you aliens, you were taking everything from us, you'd already made me lose one best friend and now you were taking Liz from me!  
  
'I used to take Alex' guitar with me when I went to visit. I'd sing to her, just to try and make her happy, perhaps to take away some of the pain. And when I used to play I could feel Alex there with us, just like it used to be, and we'd all be happy for a while.' Maria smiled at the memory. 'Then one day I got a call from the Parkers, they said Liz was dying and they wanted me to go and see her one last time,' tears caught in Maria's throat but she swallowed and went on. 'I went to watch my best friend die, to see the last person I really love with all my heart and soul, being torn away from me!' She turned back to face Max, tears streaming down her face. 'I never knew what happened that day,' continued Maria, her voice immediately calmer.' But she didn't die, in fact from that day on she got steadily better. I think that was the day she finally began to let go and move on with her life. Those pills are anti-depressants, migraine pills and all kinds of other crap she has to take. she has to take them because of you and your scheming bitch Tess!' she stared Max straight in the eyes, her own eyes on fire with fury anger and sadness, 'And now my Liz isn't even my Liz any more! She cold, bitter and she won't let me in.' All the hurt found it's way back into her voice. 'The warm, gentle, caring Liz that I loved is gone and the person that's taken her place scares me! I know that my Liz is trapped in there somewhere... but I can't get her out. I can't get her out!' Maria collapsed on the bed, again in tears. Max put a hand on her shoulder.  
  
'Will you show me?' he asked hesitantly. Maria nodded in silence and took his hand. Max felt Maria's emotions of Pain, anguish, anger and loneliness sweep over him as the room faded away.  
  
*I suppose I ought to start right at the beginning, before you left.*  
  
FLASH  
  
Alex lay dead in his own car. No more singing, no more laughing, just darkness and fear. The music had died.  
  
FLASH  
  
Maria looked across the table outside the Crashdown at Sean, ' Oh Sean, you really gotta lose that earring. It's just so like you're obviously trying.'  
  
Sean just looked at her, 'You're retarded, you know that?'  
  
Liz giggled, 'I think it looks cute.'  
  
Maria glared at her best friend, could she get any more desperate? 'Okay, lets hear from somebody other than the lowly Parker. Kyle?'  
  
Kyle glanced up at Sean's ear, 'Isn't it a gay thing anyway?' He asked smiling sweetly.  
  
Sean coughed violently, 'No, it's not a gay thing! I have got to get out of this town, I really do.'  
  
'Would you stop doing that? Please!' sighed Maria exasperatedly, staring at Kyle.  
  
'What?'  
  
'That tapping thing, you've been doing it for like an hour!'  
  
'I have?'  
  
FLASH  
  
'I can't believe this is happening! I - I just can't believe this is even possible!' groaned Maria as she slumped down on the bad next to Liz.  
  
'Um, hmm.'  
  
'Larek. He says his name is Larek, and he's an alien. Who is Larek?'  
  
Maria glanced up at Liz in panic, 'My mom!' she gasped as the ran towards the kitchen.  
  
'And he's taken over this whole place. And he's holding us hostage here with a gun. He's pointing a gun at my daughter. He threatened my daughter.'  
  
Maria looked in fear at her mom babbling away, 'Mom, Mom what's wrong?'  
  
Amy looked at her, 'Maria? What are you doing up, it's the middle of the night. And Liz? What are you still doing here?'  
  
Liz glanced down at where Amy's fingers were tapping on the oven, 'Oh my god,' she murmured. 'It's Tess, Tess mindwarped Alex!'  
  
FLASH  
  
Liz and Maria were slouched on Kyle's bed, staring at him with expectant faces. Suddenly he turned to them.  
  
'I carried his body. She made me think it was luggage. She killed him. Tess killed Alex!'  
  
FLASH  
  
Maria stood facing the podchamber entrance, she sighed. All this just wasn't worth it, they would never get in, the aliens were leaving, end of story! Her eyes strayed to Liz. Pain shot through her as she watched her friend. Liz' hair was flailing everywhere, her eyes were panic stricken and wild and small droplets of blood were appearing on her hands from where she had been banging the stone.  
  
There was complete eerie silence except for Liz screams, her voice was different, unnatural, like a soul in torment. Then tears began to roll down her cheeks, her face became even more desperate and lost. 'MAX!!'  
  
Her voice quieted for a second as the ground around her began to shake. But the next second she was screaming again.  
  
Maria saw Kyle run forward, and understood what was needed of her. She followed him and grabbed one of Liz' arms.  
  
'NO! I won't go! Let me stay!' yelled Liz, turning her face on them. 'You can't make me leave him! I won't leave him! I swore I'd never leave him!'  
  
Maria blinked back tears as her friend slashed at both her and Kyle, she looked ready to kill them. Her eyes were red with hate.  
  
'Liz it's over!' said Maria in a choked voice. 'We're too late, we have to let them go!'  
  
'No!!!' screamed Liz.  
  
Maria and Kyle collapsed into the sand with Liz just as the huge rock in front of the began to disintegrate.  
  
'Max,' gasped Liz.  
  
The small glowing ship shot out of the ruble and into the sky.  
  
Maria flinched as Liz yelled, 'I loved you!'  
  
FLASH  
  
Maria sat in the corner of Liz' bedroom, the room was dark and quiet. Maria was sitting watching the bed, listening to the sound of Liz crying herself to sleep. A tear rolled down Maria's face.  
  
FLASH  
  
Maria stood looking at Liz lying on her bad, facing away from her. 'Please Liz, you have to eat, you're making yourself ill! Please!' pleaded Maria. 'This isn't how Max would have wanted it.'  
  
Liz turned her head to stare at Maria with cold eyes, 'How would you know what Max would have wanted?' she spat.  
  
FLASH  
  
Maria was sitting in a hospital bedroom, the walls were decorated with cards and balloons. Maria smiled down at her best friend, 'Happy 19th birthday Liz!'  
  
'Thanks Mar-' Maria looked on in concern as her best friend began to choke.  
  
'Liz are you, are you OK?'  
  
'Yeah,' replied Liz as she stopped coughing. 'Thank you.'  
  
FLASH  
  
Maria sat in class at school, her eyes strayed to the world outside the window.  
  
'Miss Maria DeLuca.'  
  
Maria's eyes snapped immediately back to the teacher, Great here we go, in trouble again!  
  
'Please will you come with me.'  
  
Maria looked at the teacher in surprise, She'd just been looking out the window, she hadn't attacked him or anything! Maria blushed as she felt all the eyes of the class on her.  
  
The teacher closed the door of the class room behind her, 'You have been excused for the rest of the day. Liz Parker's parents just called, they want you to go and see Liz. They don't think she's gone last the day.'  
  
'Liz,' Maria gasped as her knees buckled and she fainted, the teacher grabbed her and held her up.  
  
FLASH  
  
Maria sat next to Liz' hospital bed, she had Liz' hand clasped in her own and tears were rolling down her cheeks. 'Liz, please don't leave me here alone!'  
  
FLASH  
  
Maria was clasping both of Liz' hands, her face showed her obvious fear. Liz was sitting up in bed, her eyes were open and excited.  
  
'He's coming back isn't he. Max is coming back, they all are! He told me he loved me, and people who love you don't just leave! Mom and Dad didn't, and Max won't, he's coming back for us, and he'll love me again! And we'll all be together again, you, me , Max and Michael and Isabel and Alex! They're all coming back to get us aren't they, and we'll be happy just like we were, right? No one'll have to cry, we'll be happy all the time, everyday, we can laugh again.' Liz paused to study Maria's face, her own face fell. 'They aren't coming back are they. He's never coming back, I'll never see him again,' tears began to roll down Liz' face. 'He'll never tell me he loves me again. Never again-'  
  
Liz fell back against the pillow, the consistent bleep of her heart on the heart monitor becoming a long wail.  
  
'Help! Please, Someone!' screamed Maria.  
  
Two nurses and a doctor were in the room immediately, 'She's gone into cardiac arrest, get me 200 volts!'  
  
One of the nurses hurried over to Maria, 'Come on sweetheart, lets get you out of here.'  
  
'Liz,' murmured Maria as she looked back over her shoulder at Liz' limp lifeless body.  
  
FLASH  
  
As soon as Maria entered the room Mr and Mrs Parker were at her side, 'What are they doing to Lizzie? What happened?'  
  
'I-I don't know. she just. went.' Maria collapsed into a chair, convulsed with sobs.  
  
FLASH  
  
'Mr and Mrs Parker?'  
  
Liz' parents leapt out of their chairs, Maria looked up her face showing all her fear.  
  
'I have good news, Liz pulled through, she's alive.'  
  
Mrs Parker burst into tears of joy and Mr Parker embraced her. Maria sat back in her chair and let tears roll down her face.  
  
FLASH  
  
Maria and Liz were sitting on her balcony looking at the stars.  
  
'Maria?'  
  
'Mmmm.'  
  
'I want to go to Sweden.'  
  
Maria turned to look at Liz in incredulity.  
  
FLASH  
  
'You take care of our baby girl, if anything goes wrong you'll come straight home right?'  
  
Maria nodded, 'Of course, I'll keep her out of trouble.' She grinned at Liz.  
  
'I love you Mom and Dad, we'll be fine, don't worry.'  
  
Mrs Parker ran forward and kissed Liz, 'You be careful!'  
  
Liz smiled and turned to board the plane.  
  
FLASH  
  
Maria was lying in a bed, the room was dark and quiet, a sudden noise caused her to turn her head, she saw Liz walk across the room and out the French windows. She lay and watched still for a minute and then pulling herself out of bed she walked over to where Liz had left and looked out. Sitting in the snow a few meters away, sat Liz, her head was in her hands and Maria could hear her crying. Somehow Maria thought she could see Alex sitting beside Liz, comforting her, a trick of the northern lights? Maria smiled and walked back to bed, Liz was going to be fine.  
  
FLASH  
  
Maria and Liz were sitting in a small café.  
  
'So what happens now?' asked Maria.  
  
'We go home.'  
  
Maria looked up from her breakfast in surprise.  
  
'I'm fed up of holding onto someone, I mean, something that's never coming back. We're gonna go home, we're gonna go to university. You're gonna study Music and I'll study Science, just like we always planned. And then when we leave, we'll get jobs, we'll get married, we'll have children, we'll be happy. We'll always be happy, all the time, everyday.'  
  
A haunted expression passed over Maria's face at the memory of those words.  
  
'Our lives will go on! We had life before them, and we'll have life after them. I'm done wasting my life hoping that that self-centered Czech will come back looking for me!'  
  
'Liz, honey, I know you're angry, but do you think you could keep it down a bit. It's just people are staring and that couple over there are Czech, they look a bit miffed.'  
  
Liz didn't laugh at Maria's joke, she didn't even smile. Her face just glazed over and became a stone wall.  
  
***Max felt Maria's pain hit him as she watched her best friend slip away from her.***  
  
FLASH  
  
'So this is our apartment. Why Las Cruses University, why here?'  
  
'It's the only place that's close enough to Roswell, and it's not that bad.'  
  
Maria saw her friend was lying, she could see the pain on her friend's face.  
  
'Yeah, I guess it's better than nothing.'  
  
FLASH  
  
Maria and Liz were sitting drinking coffee.  
  
'Liz, what you're doing is safe right? I mean experimenting on your own brain! It's like something from a horror movie!'  
  
'I'm not experimenting on my own brain, I'm just trying to find out about how to get powers.'  
  
'Yes, but is it safe?'  
  
Liz didn't answer.  
  
'Liz! You can't do anything unsafe! I thought you'd given up waiting for Max!'  
  
Liz turned blazing eyes on Maria, 'This isn't about Max! This is about Alex! I will not let Tess get away with all this! She can have Max, but she will not get away with killing Alex! I'm not gonna let Alex die unavenged!'  
  
'Why can't you just let him rest in peace?' sighed Maria.  
  
'You think he can rest while she's out there?' shouted Liz. 'While she's a queen being waited on hand and foot and he's stuck under that cold, dank ground? And while everyone thinks he committed suicide? I will not let that happen! I may have found out what happened too late! But I will do something!'  
  
'Liz! You're changing! You're like you were after the funeral! You refuse to grieve and let go! Remember what happened then! Max slept with Tess cos you pushed him away!' Maria stopped, realising what she had said, 'Oh Liz, I'm sorry.'  
  
'Just forget it!' spat Liz as she walked out, slamming the door behind her. Maria put her head in her hands and began to cry.  
  
END OF FLASH  
  
Tears were once again rolling down Maria's face when Max looked up in amazement. 'Tess. Tess killed Alex?'  
  
Maria stopped crying for a second, she looked at him suspiciously, 'You didn't know?'  
  
Max shook his head, 'I guess that was another small detail she forgot to tell us. Like the one where she betrayed us, not Isabel. And the one where she and Kivar are lovers!' His voice was bitter, 'I think we all need to talk, something big is coming.'  
  
***  
  
Max and Maria wandered out of Liz' bedroom to find the outside room silent. Isabel and Michael looked up at them with expectant faces.  
  
'Where are Liz and Serena?' asked Maria in surprise.  
  
'Oh, they hurried off a few minutes ago, saying something about being late for class.' replied Michael.  
  
'Class? Shit!' cried Maria looking down at her watch. 'I have to go. Damn it! How could I forget? Look ummm, there's the bathroom, make yourselves at home, take what you want from the fridge, go to sleep, what ever.' she babbled at them as she ran to collect her music and Alex' guitar. 'Oh, but just one thing, stay inside, cos technically you're not meant to be here. And I mean really not meant to be here!' She yelled over her shoulder as she ran out.  
  
Isabel blinked, 'Oh, OK then.'  
  
Michael said nothing but just walked straight to the fridge. 'Michael, you can't just raid their fridge!'  
  
'Hey, Maria said we could! She commands, I do!' he said with a grin.  
  
'Get some food then we have to talk Michael. We have bigger problems, there's no way Tess is gonna just let us walk away.' 


	8. Faint

A/N: Wooo hoooo they got the site back up! I VERY sorry u didn't get this sooner, I loaded it while the site was kinda confused and it lost it( Here's a few more chapter for u. please r/r! Keep reviewing ppl!! Tell me where you want me to go with the story! I have a vague idea but all input is extremely helpful( Keep reading!  
  
Liz swore as she dropped a test tube. 'Liz, are you sure you're OK?' asked the professor in concern. Maybe all that work was finally beginning to take it's toll. 'That's the fourth test tube you've dropped today, along with one thermometer and a beaker, I don't think the university can afford much more of this! Perhaps you ought to go back to your room and get some rest.' He suggested gentle with a grin.  
  
Liz shook her head violently, 'No really I'm fine. I just need to keep my mind busy. I'm fine, just fine!'  
  
Serena eyed her worriedly, could the trip to Antar have done this to her? Surely not. it had never hurt anyone before! But no one human had been there for thousands of years. No that couldn't be it, there must be something else!  
  
Liz slammed down the apparatus, she was getting no where, and for some reason she just couldn't concentrate. She slumped down on a stool and rubbed her temples. Why would this damn headache just not go away? She picked up a pen and began to write up the results from her latest experiment.  
  
How could Max be so arrogant? He'd just walked back into her life and expected everything to be perfect! Well I have news for you, Maxi boy, not everything in life goes your way! I should know! I've had more crap in the last four years than most people get in a life time! And those who do get as much as me normally end up in a mental institution or a hospital! Come to think of it, I did! Yeah well, looks like my life is just one big bowl of cherries!  
  
Liz let out her breath and looked back down at her page. Her work was covered in doodles, all that work had taken her days to do! She groaned and slammed her head down onto the table, flinging out her arms. Her left hand connected with a beaker of water and iodine, that went crashing to the floor.  
  
The professor's head jerked back up! 'That's it Liz, you're going back to your apartment! This isn't just about your safety now! You're a health hazard! Go, take the day off, have a walk around campus, get some fresh air. I don't want to see you till Monday,' he commanded.  
  
Liz looked up at him pleadingly but he just turned away. Not now, not this weekend! Friday, Saturday and Sunday with just her, Maria and the aliens from hell! Oh life just keeps getting better!  
  
Liz looked down at the mess on the floor hopefully. Headache and cleaning was better by a long way than headache and Max!  
  
'I'll do it,' said Serena following her gaze. Liz shook her head violently.  
  
'Thank you Serena. Go home Liz!' called the professor without turning round.  
  
Liz sighed and picked up her things. She walked slowly to the other end of the lab and out of the door into the bright sunlight.  
  
'Quickly Parker,' growled the professor.  
  
She groaned in response and turned towards the apartment. Well, she thought, I'm gonna have to go home sooner or later. I guess now is as gooder time as any. She sighed again and began to walk.  
  
She was only a few hundred yards further on when the black spots began to dance before her tired eyes. The throbbing in her head was increasing with the sunlight and her ears were singing. She raised a hand to massage her forehead. Damn it, she thought, I knew I shouldn't have been shaking my head at Serena!  
  
Liz shot her eyes wildly around her looking for something to hold onto. She swayed where she stood but there was nothing and the darkness around her as growing. She began to mentally kick herself. Why do I always have to walk in the middle of the path?  
  
Liz' body began to sway more violently. Oh god! She was going to faint right here, with nothing to hold onto! Her knees buckled and gave way, her body began to plunge towards the ground. She clamped her eyes shut and waited for the impact of the harsh gravel on her bare knees.  
  
Faintly she heard the sound of a yell and running feet. And then, in the split second before she hit the ground, she felt a strong arm grasp her. But then everything went black. 


	9. Introductions

'Liz, Liz! Come on Lizzie, it's me Adam!'  
  
'Adam?' asked Liz groggily. So it wasn't Max. She moved her legs thoughtfully and felt something sharp sticking into them, pins and needles? No it was too real for that. She lowered her hand to below her legs, gravel? What on earth was she doing on the ground in Adam's arms? Her mind began to attempt to work. She had been about to faint! Liz snapped open her eyes and sat bolt up right.  
  
'Whoa,' she gasped as the world began to spin and her head began to throb. She grabbed at Adam to steady herself.  
  
'Hey careful Liz!' said Adam with concern. 'OK I think we oughta get you home. Can you walk?'  
  
Liz nodded gently, she didn't protest but she didn't really want to. The longer it took to get back to the apartment, the better. She couldn't face Max like this!  
  
'Thank you,' she murmured to Adam as he helped her to her feet.  
  
'No problem Chica!'  
  
Liz laughed at his impression of Maria, trust Adam to make the world seem that little bit brighter. But as Liz turned her eyes in the direction of her apartment she felt the old feeling of despair settle on her again.  
  
She looked at the tall, lanky boy walking next to her. He had dark, spiked up hair and a goofy face, in a way he reminded her of Alex... When they had met him a few years earlier, Maria and Liz had just been drawn to him as a result of this resemblance. And when they had become friends they discovered that he didn't only look like Alex, he acted like him too. Sure, he wasn't Alex, but he made the same kind of jokes and just seemed to begin to fill the gap that had been left in their lives when Alex died. He didn't replace Alex at all, no one could ever do that and Liz and Maria would never accept another person to be Alex but he helped to fill some of the void. And he was good in his own right too, he helped Maria out with her music and when Liz had hung around with them he had cheered her up for short times.  
  
Liz smiled as she remembered those two weeks almost a year ago when they had hung around together. It had been her, Maria and Adam, just like it was with Alex, and Liz had felt happy! Really happy! But then there was that row with Maria and Liz had begun to bury herself in her work and their friendship had fallen apart.  
  
She liked being with Adam, with him she felt she could be herself. With him she could be the normal, old Liz Parker, the girl who didn't believe in aliens, just your average small town girl.  
  
Adam looked across at Liz and met her stare, 'So you like what you see?' he leered comically at her while waggling his eyebrows up and down..  
  
Liz grinned at him, her face glowing. Adam smiled back at her, she was beautiful. Beautiful in every sense of the word, she was the most beautiful woman he had ever laid eyes on and he loved her. As a friend of course. perhaps. But she had the 'taken' sign slashed all over her, and yet, he'd never seen her with a guy. She was always alone, always a brick wall and never, well, never the Liz Parker he knew.  
  
He knew how concerned Maria was about her. He and Maria were still good friends, they were in the same music class, so Maria being Maria, she hadn't really given him a choice. Often, in music practicals he would accompany Maria on his Bass guitar, and at lunch times they would hang together. And so earlier that year Maria had begun to confide in him, he knew Liz wasn't happy and that she was ill, getting worse with every day. But there was nothing he could do!  
  
Liz raised her hand again and rubbed her forehead. Stupid migraine, she thought.  
  
Adam stopped in front of the front door and looked down at Liz, 'At least let me get you inside.'  
  
Liz smiled sweetly at him. 'Sure, and thank you. Oh a few of our friends are staying so just ignore them. OK?'  
  
'Sure thing Lizzie!'  
  
Friends? Liz swallowed hysterical laughter, friends don't just leave you! She plunged the key into the lock and twisted it violently.  
  
She pushed open the door to see three faces staring anxiously at her. Ignoring them she walked towards her bedroom, supported by Adam. When she got there she turned to face him. 'Thank you Adam,' she planted a soft kiss on his face.  
  
'See you later Parker,' he answered a blush spreading into his cheeks. 'No more diving into gravel paths, OK.'  
  
Liz grinned at him, her face softening for a second. A slight sound came from behind Adam and her face immediately glazed again, she turned again and walked into her room. Adam turned to look at the three visitors behind him, they all looked like they had seen a ghost.  
  
'Alex?' whispered the girl.  
  
Adam looked at her. Whoa, she's a goddess! He considered for a second whether throwing himself at her feet and screaming, 'We are not worthy,' would take him up in her esteem. But after a few second's thought he decided against it that was perhaps not the best way to go about it!  
  
'Uh, no Adam,' He grinned at her, OK so that was slightly odd.  
  
'I'm Max, that's Michael and Isabel.' said the tall dark boy. 'What happened to Liz?'  
  
Ooo suspicious one this one. 'She's got a migraine. She fainted outside, so I brought her home. She should be ok soon, this happens every now and then.'  
  
Max bristled, how come this guy thought he knew so much about Liz? He didn't! Max was the only one who knew Liz properly! But then Max stopped, no, he had known, but then he had left... He sighed, how was it that this stranger could bring out the real Liz, but he couldn't?  
  
Adam looked at the group of people. They looked tired. and some how they looked familiar. What was it?  
  
'Well I oughta get going. Tell Maria I dropped by. See you.'  
  
Adam turned and walked out. He stopped outside for a moment, well this was an interesting development! 


	10. Falling

A/N: Most of this is a diary entry, it should be in italics but I don't think it's gonna let me so just so u know all the text surrounded by ' ' is in the journal!(  
  
Liz twisted the top of a medicine bottle and raised her hand to her mouth. The two migraine pills were swallowed without trouble. As they say, 'Practice makes perfect!' And Liz had sure as hell had a lot of practice.  
  
She grabbed her journal and slumped down onto her bed.  
  
I'Las Cruses University, September 27 2003,  
  
Have you ever felt like you're falling? I mean really falling. Away from everything familiar into a void of confusion? Well meet Liz Parker, me, I'm on my way down.  
  
For the last two years my life has been what could almost be called normal. I mean except for the constant heart ache, sickness, dodging the FBI and experimenting on my own brain stuff. OK, so perhaps it's not what you would call normal, and perhaps it not what I would have called normal four years ago, but a lot can happen in four years. Believe me!  
  
For the last two years the alien related part of my life has been practically non existent! And now, all in one day, it's back again!  
  
Almost every part of the last four years is recorded here in this journal, or locked away in my heart, for me to keep, to hide, to live with. But now all that stuff is being ripped up again. And me? Well I'm being pulled away from my little reality into this void of darkness by one Max Evans, breaker of my heart.  
  
My head is pounding and I can barely see. I'm lost, I have no where to go, no one who understands! Not even Maria! She's so pleased Michael's back, and she's so happy. I'm glad for her, she deserves some happiness, she's given up so much for me. But just because of that she would never understand what's happening to me. I feel so angry! My anger makes me sick inside. It's made me change, made me different over the last two years, I can see that and I can see how it hurts Maria and everyone who loves me. But I can't help it, this is who I am! This all that was left of me when Max shot off with my heart and his child!  
  
I can see I'm hurting Max by shutting him away but he deserves it! He killed me, in every way possible he killed me. I'm still dying, dying slowly, a small piece of me goes every day. Gone forever. And yet he thinks he can just come back and be with me again! He just doesn't get it does he? The part of me that loved him died first! Then the part of me that liked him, and now the rest of me is going.  
  
Sometimes when I'm with Adam I can almost feel some of those dead parts rekindling inside of me. But it's only a short thing. It's like a drug, it works for a while and then you get immune to it. And there are times when I write here in this journal that I can feel myself again, I feel like the innocent young girl that would sit out on her balcony and dream of a soul mate. Someone who would love her, and never leave her. Than I thought I'd found them, but it turns out that there just isn't someone like that out there for me. I guess there is such a thing though cos Maria found Michael... That's what's being going on these past years, I've been getting used to the fact that I'm alone, and I'll always be alone.  
  
I don't even have a purpose any more! This morning I had a purpose; Find Tess, Kill Tess, get on with my life. But I didn't do that, even when I had the chance. I'll tell you why, I lost control! I can't live without control, and now that's gone too. Tess is gonna come for Max, and for me soon and I have no control over what's gonna happen. I'm in hell.  
  
I think writing is helping me now, it always has helped. Helping me to light a candle in the darkness, open a parachute to slow my fall, glue together some of the pieces of my shattered heart. I guess I just have to wait for what's coming, just let parts of me go, let myself die.  
  
I'm Liz Parker, and down I go!' /I 


	11. What are friends for?

Maria propped up the guitar with her elbow as she unlocked the door to the apartment. She grabbed the guitar as it began to fall and shoved her way eagerly through the door. She grinned at the three faces that looked at her. 'Hey chicas,' her smile faded as she saw their worried expressions. 'What's wrong?'  
  
Michael walked quietly towards her, 'Liz is sick, she looked really sick.'  
  
Maria dropped the books she was holding, 'Oh god! What happened?'  
  
She glared round at them when none of them answered. 'Someone tell me what the hell happened!'  
  
'She fainted outside, some guy called Adam brought her back,' explained Michael.  
  
Oh, thought Maria, So they met Adam. She looked round at them. 'Look I know you guys must have one big bucket of questions, but not now OK! In the morning. OK Isabel you take my room,' Isabel began to protest violently, Maria just silenced her with a shake of her head. 'I'm going in Liz' room. I always do this when she gets sick. Just so she knows someone cares,' she looked pointedly at Max while she said this. He flushed and began to stare at his feet. 'Michael and Max you take the sofa, it pulls out into a bed.' Michael stared longingly at her, she shook her head. 'Not tonight spaceboy, Liz is way more important! Blankets are in my room, make yourselves at home. I'm going to see Liz.'  
  
She heard Isabel begin to move as she turned towards Liz' bedroom. A flush of guilt waved over her, she hadn't meant them to meet Adam in that way. Isabel must be dying. She hadn't been ready for someone so like Alex! She probably even thought it was Alex. How was it life could get so screwed up so quickly?  
  
She entered Liz' room and saw the small figure huddle in the bed with her journal beside her. Maria walked over quietly and took the journal, she pulled the covers over Liz and started towards the cupboard.  
  
Maria let her eyes wander down to the small book in her hands.  
  
'Have you ever felt like you're falling? I mean really falling. Away from everything familiar into a void of confusion? Well meet Liz Parker, me, I'm on my way down!'  
  
Maria looked back up and turned to look at Liz, 'Oh Liz.' she murmured. 


	12. Darkness

A/N: Yes I confess, this story has been severely neglected. I've been writing a different story and posting it in a different place! I may post it here but I'm not sure. Well here's that long over due chapter! Please R and R and leave me some feedback to encourage me to write more!!  
  
Max lay on the sofa bed with Michael snoring beside him, his mind in turmoil. He'd done it again! He really had! He'd destroyed Liz' life again! She'd risked everything to save them and now Tess was gonna come and kill her, all of them. She'd suffered so much because of him already and now he was putting her through it again!  
  
Every time he closed his eyes he saw Tess standing by Liz' dead body or Isabel and Michael cowering away from their certain deaths! Just like they had on Antar! Antar. He should have never have taken them back there! Antar wasn't a good place now. Kivar had total power and now Tess had supplied him with Max' son their claim to the throne was fool proof! The only thing that kept the people on the streets happy was the talk of the prophecy and the knowledge that their king was still alive!  
  
But what of this King? A king who was barely old enough to drive? A king who had slept with the enemy, betrayed his friends and broken so many hearts? What kind of a king was that? How could someone who had made so many mistakes be told to rule a planet? Be trusted with so many lives? It just shouldn't work like that! Hell this was a king who couldn't even sleep through snoring! Albeit if it was Michael's trumpet snoring.  
  
Suddenly the door on the other side of the room pulled open, and a figure stepped out.  
  
***  
  
Liz sighed looking out into the darkness of her room. This was it. This was her life! A small room at Las Cruses University, constant illness and sacrificing everything for Max Evans! That was all it would ever be! She wasn't going anywhere! She'd never get to be head of Molecular Biology at Harvard! She'd given that up, the second she left her dreams behind for Max. And now that he wasn't there for her, what was left? What could she become? Now she'd given herself alien powers, so now she was even more of an FBI target! Was that part of why she'd done it? A way out of this craziness, a way out of this life she didn't want?  
  
And then there was Maria, Liz knew she was sleeping on the floor beside her. She always did! She'd given up everything for Liz and the aliens. Forfeited her dreams of being a singer, the idealistic girl that had existed before Liz was shot had gone completely! The girl who would have leapt off buildings just to sing hadn't sung with her full heart in years! She was trapped behind this huge alien conspiracy and it was slowly killing her! That was all that had happened to the humans who knew. Who had the knowledge so many millions didn't! They were slowly suffocated! Even Kyle hadn't escaped! He was still trapped in the never ending cycle and no matter how far he ran, he would always still be trapped!  
  
Liz swallowed, she'd have to ring Kyle. He ought to know the aliens were back! After all, it wasn't as though this would stir up his life much. They could only go forwards, never back, it was the only way out of the limbo they were all eternally stuck in! The only way out was death and oblivion. This was what they would live with their whole lives! They had kissed goodbye to their normal, happy lives in the Crashdown that day so long ago. Liz felt guilt consume her as she realise if she'd only dodged the bullet or been allowed to die then Alex would still be alive, Maria would still sing, and Kyle wouldn't be alone! It was no good dwelling though, Alex was dead, Maria was silent and Kyle was alone! Forward, never back.  
  
The sound of Liz' stomach rumbling wrenched the silence apart. Liz sighed, she hadn't eaten all day, just that coffee in the morning and that was it! She pulled herself out of bed, careful to avoid Maria's sleeping form, picked her torch off the dresser and made her way to the door.  
  
Liz smiled as she heard the sound of snoring coming from the other side of the room, trust them to make that racket! Liz sighed again as she made her way through the darkness to the fridge, her torch lying unused in her hand. Darkness, the only place where Liz could be Liz. The only place she could let everything she was feeling be displayed on her face because in the light she had to again become, emotionless Liz Parker, the girl who didn't care, a girl with out a heart! As the light from the fridge lit on her face, it once again became an emotionless mask. Liz picked out a half eaten sandwich from the almost empty fridge, closed the door and sank to the ground, her head resting on the wall.  
  
Yes, Liz Parker was stuck in limbo without her heart and without her soul. And at present, she was going no where! 


	13. A welcome visitor

Max squinted into the darkness, dots leapt before his eyes as a result of the light from the fridge. He could just vaguely make out the crumpled figure on the floor, Liz. Should he go and talk to her? Try and say sorry? Or should he hide in the darkness and watch her? Max took a deep breath, he had never been one to back out from a challenge and this was one challenge he couldn't run away from, this was one challenge he just had to win!  
  
Slowly and quietly he pulled himself to his feet. At the first sound of movement he saw the figure tense and swiftly rise.  
  
'Liz.' The figure stopped for a second but then continued to move. 'Liz, please, let me talk to you!'  
  
The figure once again stopped and turned to him, and in the ever lightening half-darkness Max thought he could see anger flash through the person's eyes.  
  
'What did you want to say?' questioned a scornful voice.  
  
Max swallowed, this was it, here he could either make it or break it even further. 'I just- I wanted to tell you what happened. To try and- and explain what happened and why I. I just wanted to try and make you understand.'  
  
Max stood frozen in anticipation, what would she say? What would she do? The old Liz would listen and try to understand, but this Liz was different, someone he couldn't understand, didn't know.  
  
Liz stood there, thoughts spinning through her head, she didn't even seem to notice that Max was waiting for an answer. She tried to get her feelings calmed, should she stay and listen? Or was this just what she would have done two years ago, opened herself up for yet another heart break?  
  
A sudden snore ripped the silence apart. Max swore under his breath, why had he chosen to do this in the middle of the night, when Liz was tired and probably still feeling ill and privacy was at rock bottom. Liz snapped her eyes up to Max' face, making her decision.  
  
'Not now Max.'  
  
'But we have to talk!'  
  
'Fine! Tomorrow, we'll talk tomorrow!'  
  
'You promise?'  
  
'Unlike some Max, I don't say things I don't mean! Good night!'  
  
Liz stalked back into her room, closing the door quietly yet defiantly.  
  
Max watched her go, his heart aching, he knew exactly what that last comment had been intended to do and Liz could rest assured, it had hit the very nerve it was meant for! He sighed and walked back to the couch he and Michael were sharing. He had a long road ahead of him and unlike he'd expected the people and landmarks were unfamiliar and unforgiving!  
  
Liz sunk to the floor again, resting her head on the door. Why did he have to make her so angry? Why did he have to make it so hard? All she wanted to do is forget! Why was it so damn hard? The unmasked anger in her eyes turned swiftly to sorrow. The sandwich in her hand lay forgotten as the tears began to fall hidden behind the sound of Maria's content breathing.  
  
***  
  
Liz tugged her eyes open and surveyed the room. Maria's bed was cleared away from sight back into the cupboard, just like it always was. Her journal had been placed on her dresser along with her pill bottles. Liz grimaced as she saw the pills, she hated being tied to those things, taking them everywhere she went, never the former freedom she'd possessed, always worrying about her health. But she was stuck with them, the doctor said her condition would never go away, it would get better, but never go away. She'd been told to avoid stress and strain, advice which she'd never even considered heeding, for Liz Parker, stress and strain were just a way of life!  
  
Liz winced in pain as her left arm began to cramp, she stretched it out. Her fingers brushed against something upon her pillow, glancing over, Liz saw a small piece of paper. She picked it up and squinted at it.  
  
'Gone to do my practical, be back at noon.  
  
Maria xx  
  
PS The Czechs are watching TV.'  
  
Liz groaned and rolled over, squashing her face in her pillow. Great! A whole morning on her own with the aliens! She lay for a minute considering how high her window was and whether she could climb down the drain pipe but deciding against it she rolled onto her back and stared at the ceiling listening to the hushed voices in the sitting room.  
  
One. Two. Three... Four. Four voices? Maria said she'd gone out! Who could the fourth person be? It was not good news if a stranger had called!  
  
Liz got quickly out of bed, threw on some clothes and rushed out into the sitting room.  
  
'KYLE?!?'  
  
Liz stopped dead in her tracks, Kyle? How could he be here? She hadn't even called him yet!  
  
'Liz!'  
  
Liz felt huge arms enveloping her as she stood watching the people around her bewilderedly.  
  
'How did you know to come?' she asked curiously.  
  
'Ria called me yesterday afternoon, I flew here over night.'  
  
Oh, thought Liz, of course Maria would call, it was the best thing to do.  
  
'But won't they be suspicious that you just suddenly flew down here?' asked Liz.  
  
'Who?' said Isabel quickly.  
  
Kyle opened his mouth to answer only to be interrupted by a knock at the door.  
  
Kyle swore under his breath and Liz turned pale. 'Quick, you three into my bedroom,' and as she saw their hesitance, 'Now!'  
  
The three aliens scurried into the bedroom and Liz turned to the door.  
  
She took a deep breath, 'One, two, three,' she swung open the door. 'Hel- Oh Serena! It's just you! Come in.'  
  
Kyle turned his head from the fridge at the sound of the name. Serena? Wasn't that the one Future Max had mentioned? He gasped when he saw her and dropped the glass bottle he was holding. She was stunning, black raven hair was cascading down her back and deep dark eyes shone out at him from under long lashes.  
  
'Kyle!' squeaked Liz. 'What are you doing?'  
  
'Huh?- Oh sorry! I ummm. I'll just clean this up. yeah, ummm, clean it up.'  
  
Kyle ducked down behind the counter to get a dust pan, brush and mop. Serena smiled at him, who was this guy? Max had never mentioned him, did he know about the aliens?  
  
Kyle pulled himself up from clearing the mess, how could he have been so stupid? Making himself look like a klutz in front of this angel? He walked hesitantly towards her. 'Hi I'm Kyle.'  
  
Serena smiled as she held out her hand. 'Serena.'  
  
Kyle looked at Liz, 'Does she-?'  
  
'She knows Kyle, she's one of them.'  
  
'You're an alien? Wow! You look so normal.'  
  
Serena burst out laughing and Liz fought to hide a smile. Kyle however, felt like hitting his head against a brick wall, he'd done it again. Kyle Valenti, 101 ways to look like an idiot!  
  
'Where are the others?' asked Serena finally.  
  
'Oh!' said Liz, remembering the anxious three huddled in her bedroom. She walked to her door and swung it open saying, 'It's just Serena, you can come out.'  
  
Three people came timidly from Liz' room and sat back down. Liz looked at them emotionlessly. Everyone else looked at Serena questioningly as Maria walked through the door.  
  
'Hey! KYLE!! You got here!'  
  
Maria ran across the room and leapt into Kyle's arms, Michael eyed them both with jealousy.  
  
'How'd your practical go?' asked Liz quietly.  
  
'Good, in fact great! I think I aced it!' replied Maria.  
  
'That's fantastic,' said Isabel from behind them, a smile lighting up her face.  
  
'What's going on?' asked Maria finally noticing the others worried looks, she turned to Serena, she always seemed to bring on the weird things. 'So?'  
  
'We have to talk about what happens now,' said Serena quietly. 'You're all in danger!' 


	14. Revelations

A/N: hey guys, yes I know I've been away for ages again, but I'm back again. The whole story has been edited as I was struggling with writing it, please read the past chapters if you haven't already because much of the stuff from now won't make any sense if you don't! Please keep on reviewing as it keeps me writing!  
  
  
  
Adam stood, looking up at Liz and Maria's apartment. The memory of the three strangers hovered in his mind, something was wrong, they weren't normal and he had to do something about it! He was loath to hurt Liz' friends, but there was no other option. Those three meant trouble and he had to report them!  
  
***  
  
'Danger?' questioned Max quietly.  
  
Serena nodded, 'Someone is following Liz, Maria and Kyle.'  
  
Max, Michael and Isabel looked at each other in fear, the memory of their cold cell appearing all too easily in their minds. The brief silence was broken by the sound of Liz' bitter laughter. Everyone except Maria and Kyle looked at her in surprise.  
  
'So what's new?' asked Liz with anger showing clearly in her voice.  
  
'What?' asked Max. Liz just ignored him.  
  
'You knew about this?' asked Isabel, her eyes wide in surprise.  
  
'Of course we knew! Why do you think we didn't want you going outside?' continued Liz.  
  
Michael turned to Maria, 'Well?'  
  
'Yes we knew, it's a little hard to miss it.'  
  
'Did you not think to tell us? Perhaps we might have wanted to know!' burst out Michael. Maria opened her mouth to reply, closed it again and looked away, blinking back the tears that rose into her eyes. Michael felt immediately regretful of his outburst, looks like that time on Antar had done nothing to improve his communication skills. He'd only been back for about a day and he'd already hurt Maria, that must be a record, even for him!  
  
Liz saw her friend's pain and anger began to well up within her. She stood up glaring at the four aliens. 'Don't you dare try and lay any blame on us! While you lot were off on your vacation to a galaxy far, far away we have been constantly followed and stalked. We knew that at any moment we could just be grabbed and tortured till we talk! Our lives have been made a living hell because of you lot, none of us have been allowed to escape the alien vortex, they made sure of that! Did you think that the FBI would just forget about us lot when you left? Or that they wouldn't care when a space ship shot off and you three were missing? Well they did! And we're still paying the consequences of it!'  
  
'The FBI?' whispered Isabel.  
  
Kyle walked across the room and took Liz' hand in an effort to calm her anger. He turned to the others who were all looking at him expectantly and with one last glance at Liz and Maria he began. 'When you left, they detected your ship. They were all ready pretty close to picking you up but that brought them straight to Roswell, it didn't take them long to figure out the occupants of the ship. They knew you'd gone but they thought there could be more, and so they stayed! They didn't lay a finger on us, they couldn't, but they made sure that we knew they were around and that we were in no way free to go on living our lives!  
  
'This is the only university that actually accepted Liz and Maria. Why? Liz could have got to Harvard with her eyes closed and Maria could have been selling number one singles within a week of your departure but they had no chance. Harvard was warned off and it's not much of a mystery as to why no record companies know the name Maria DeLuca! Just three small letters answer that F-B-I! But they didn't even stop there! Your dad's law firm was publicly disgraced, he now works at the UFO center as their accountant. Liz' parents went into debt at the diner, they only just managed to keep hold of it! My dad got thrown out of the police force, he works as a cook at the diner. I was obviously small fry, they let me get as far as Berkley.. just. None of us have been free since.'  
  
'Why didn't you do something?' asked Isabel, mystified. 'Couldn't you take some kind of legal action?'  
  
'You can't take legal action against people who don't exist..' replied Maria from where she sat with her head in her hands listening to all the hurt in her life being dragged out from under the carpet.  
  
All four aliens turned to look at Kyle in confusion. He sighed, 'The government denied all knowledge of the Special Unit. Like Maria said, you can't hurt someone who isn't there!'  
  
Liz took her hand out of Kyle's, she had to get out of here. She didn't want to hear any more. Why hash over what she already knew? She had destroyed everyone's lives, why go into it further, it's not like she didn't regret it every living second! She grabbed her bag from the table and walked out the door, murmuring something about going for a walk.  
  
Max stood up quickly as if to follow her. He had to do something, he could see all the pain she was in.. he had to do something. Kyle immediately jumped in front of him. 'Don't you get it Max? If you go outside you're mincemeat! Keput! Kablamo! Along with the rest of us! The FBI haven't forgotten who you are in all this time! You're stuck here!'  
  
'We're what?' demanded Michael. Stuck here, in this one apartment. What kind of life could Maria have if her boyfriend was forever stuck in one place, never an evening out together, not anniversary holidays, or moonlight walks. Just. well, it had to be said, just a cheap apartment in the middle of a university! 'We can't spend our whole lives here!' He looked round the department in disgust as he said this.  
  
'Yeah well right now Michael you haven't got much of a choice, unless the idea of a nice FBI operating table appeals to you! I know how much these guys can do OK, you don't want to mess with them! If you thought Pierce was bad well then you've only experienced the pink fluffy version! I haven't just been ignoring my suited friends for the past two years, none of us have! While you guys have been playing kings and queens we've been trying to stay alive!'  
  
'What do you mean?' asked Isabel. She had to admit that Kyle's comment about Kings and Queens had hurt, if he only knew! But she couldn't blame him, if she was in his position she would be angry, they'd been abandoned with almost all the danger for two years. She looked over at Max and saw his dejected face, he wouldn't want anyone to know how much all this was tearing him apart but lets say she'd learnt a few things about her brother while on Antar, she'd learnt he wasn't as strong as he made himself look, or at least not without Liz Parker. It was the same with Michael as well, he pretended he was strong but when he had found that Maria was no longer there, he had crumbled, perhaps that was why it had been so easy for Tess to have her way! None of them had had the heart to stand up to her. But where did she, Isabel, stand now? Max was trying to get Liz back, Michael had Maria back if he watched his mouth and she. well, she had lost her strength a long time ago, Tess had killed him!  
  
'Just after you'd gone, when things started to go wrong, your dad did some research into the special unit. With all his resources and legal knowledge he found out quite a lot. That's why they targeted his law firm, but they were too late, he already had quite a lot of knowledge. He had names, figures, records and pictures. They helped up a bit, we knew roughly who to trust and who not to. And as time went on we found ways of getting more information, listening to conversations, following people and getting people to follow us. It wasn't too hard and it made it possible to rebuild our lives a bit. But we never got enough information to bust them and as time went on they got better at hiding things, until now we're not sure who is and who isn't! And we have no way to find out.' 


	15. Lost

Liz sat on a bench staring down at the journal in her hands.  
  
I'I wonder if I could pin point the second my life died. Could it be the second Max healed me? Or perhaps the first kiss we shared? I suppose it could have been the first second my eyes met Max' over the play ground in 4th grade? It's hard to tell, the closest I've ever got to an answer is the second he took himself and his child and jetted off into space.  
  
But then I come to the question, what the hell does it matter? For all I know what happened was written in the stars! I was always doomed! My life is dead now and there's nothing I can do to get it back! The parts that hurts most though is knowing how many other people's lives I've taken with me! I've always thought that I must have been a blessing to my parents being their only child and all but when you look back at it what have I ever given them? Heart break? Debt? Sorrow? A life of hell? What have I ever done that's been of good to someone else? I've destroyed lives, broken hearts and lied. What happened to the girl that dreamed of one day curing world hunger? Where did that goodness and innocence go? Where did the love g-' /I  
  
'Hey Liz! What you doing?'  
  
Liz dropped her pen in fright and slammed the book shut. Her eyes flew up to the person in front of her. She relaxed immediately, 'Adam! You have got to stop creeping up on people!'  
  
Adam faked a blush, 'Sowie Lizziebelle, can you ever forgwive me?'  
  
Liz smiled at him, 'Well I guess I could try. But don't expect it to be easy!'  
  
Adam grinned back at her, 'So how are you feeling? Nor more urges to take flying lessons into gravel paths?'  
  
'Nope, none at all! But I do however have an odd urge for caffeine.'  
  
'Ah then, I have just the remedy!' Adam winked, and removed his arms from behind his back, producing two cups of coffee.  
  
'How did you do that?' questioned Liz with a laugh.  
  
'Magic?'  
  
Liz said nothing, she just raised her eyebrow.  
  
'Fine, fine, I saw you sitting there so I snuck in there and used to coffee machine!' He said as he indicated the near by building.  
  
'Hmmm, well in that case..' Liz reached out and took the coffee. 'Thank you Doctor Adam!'  
  
Sitting down next to Liz he grinned. 'So, how's it going with your friends? Max, Michael and Isabel was it?'  
  
Liz faltered, should she really be talking about them? More to the point should he really know anything about them? Wasn't it just putting him in danger? 'They're ummm good, they should be going home soon.' One more little fib couldn't hurt, god knows she'd told enough of them, what's one more to the pile? After all, it was possible, Max could just walk away. but he wouldn't would he?  
  
'So it must have been great to see them!'  
  
'Yeah.. great!'  
  
Adam didn't miss the sarcasm in Liz' tone, all it did was strengthen his believe that something was really wrong.. something that shouldn't be happening was happening! 'So where they from?'  
  
Liz eyed Adam suspiciously, why all the questions? This wasn't like Adam, why was he suddenly so interested in her not so human friends? Surely he couldn't be. one of them? Not an agent? She'd never seen his face in the records but then again it had been a while since they'd been able to get any more information. Could he be? No, he just couldn't, he was so good, he was the only person she had really ever trusted since well.. since then. She couldn't have been betrayed again! 'I-I have to... Thanks for the coffee. I'll see you later Adam,' said Liz hurriedly as she grabbed her stuff and began to walk away.  
  
But as she walked away something fell from her small bundle of things. Liz hurried swiftly on not heeding the loss of one of her things. Adam looked after her and then walked slowly over to the fallen object. Picking it up he eyed it with interest.. perhaps this could answer a few questions. After all wasn't a small leather bound journal where people wrote any secrets they had?  
  
A/N: For more Frequent updates check out http://www.roswellfanatics.net/viewthread.asp?page=1&pagesize=10&forum=AMB_A P732405079&id=4173  
  
Please leave feedback there too if you read it, cos that will get me to write( thanks! 


	16. Betrayed

A/N: hey guys, sorry I've taken so long to update! I've been quite busy! But I'm back now.  
  
Liz slumped herself down onto the step of her apartment and let her head slide into her hands. Why was it that everyone seemed to be against her? When was she finally gonna catch that break that she'd been waiting for, for so long? She let out a deep heartfelt sigh and reached for her bag in search of her only real friend, the small brown book that had been with her though everything. Her hand delved deeper into her small bag as her fingers failed to light upon the small object for which she was looking. Still not finding it she raised her head and looked into her bag. Her pulse quickened and then slowed dangerously low as she realised that it was gone. Her blood ran cold.. Where was it? She had to find it, that book contained everything! Not just feelings everything but everything everything! The sort of everything that would bring the FBI knocking down her door and dissecting everyone in sight. She thought desperately back to when she had last had it, in the park with Adam! Adam. Liz' heart nearly stopped out of horror of the thought that crossed her mind. No he couldn't. he wouldn't! But as the colour began to drain back into her face Liz saw that he could, and he very easily wound! She had been betrayed yet again.  
  
***  
  
Kyle sat looking listlessly out of the kitchen window wondering when Liz would come back. Guilt clouded his every breath as he thought back to the transformation that Liz had undergone since the last time he saw her almost two years ago. He shouldn't have left them, he shouldn't have run away when they needed him most. But he had thought, no kidded himself, that they were OK, that they had all finally climbed out of the alien vortex as Alex had liked to call it. Another wave of guilt hit Kyle with sickening strength. He'd carried Alex' body, a torture he had to live with every second of the day, but he'd betrayed Alex in a worse way. Alex would never have left, he would have stuck by Liz and Maria through thick and thin. But no he, Kyle, had had to run at the first chance, leaving them to rot behind him. He was no better than Max!  
  
'You know we don't blame you right Kyle?'  
  
Kyle swung his head round to see Maria staring out of the window in the same fashion as him, her face calm and unemotional.  
  
'But-'  
  
'Kyle you did just what any one of us would have done! We were all trying to get away from Roswell, the only difference between us is that you succeeded and we failed! No one blames you, we all would have done the same.'  
  
'Alex wouldn't,' said Kyle quietly.  
  
Maria blinked back the tears at the mention of her best friend, 'No, perhaps not, but you're not Alex, non of us are!'  
  
Kyle rested his forehead on the window, fighting back the tears. 'Every time I look at Liz I think I see the girl I dated back in high school, the happy girl, the girl with hopes and dreams, but when I look back I see who she is now, I see who we all are now.'  
  
'Things change, Kyle, people change. Yes we've lost thing, but think about everything we've gained along the way. Alex wouldn't have changed it, remember what he said when you were trapped in that cave?'  
  
'You know, I mean, you're part of this...this amazing thing. This...amazing knowledge that you HAVE that 6 BILLION people on this planet don't. You really want to step out of this cave if it meant that you were gonna be another dumb jock?'  
  
'Would you Kyle? Would you really want to go back to that existence? Any more than I want to go back to being that clueless, blonde, hippie-chick, bouncing her way round high school believing that the only place worth being is in the top ten and the only person good enough to be there is me? Can't you see Kyle! We've gained so much along the way, sure we've lost a little too but when it comes down to it would you ever exchange any of it?'  
  
'Just two things,' murmured Kyle. 'Liz and Alex.'  
  
Maria nodded agreement and turned her eyes to look back out the window.  
  
***  
  
Isabel sat silently at the table listening to Maria and Kyle's conversation. She had no idea that that was what Alex had felt like, she'd never understood how any of them felt. It seemed weird when she looked back on it that she had never really trusted any of them, not even Alex, when they each held her life in the palms of their hands. Sadness crept over her as she realised that although these people had given up so much for her that she'd never really shown any of them who she truly was, she'd never allowed them to enter her life properly. Well that was one thing she could do right this time, she'd been given a second chance, one she wasn't going to waste. Alex would have wanted her to do this, she may have lost the chance with him but she could give the others what she'd kept from him. She would make sure that this time round things would go right, no matter what Tess said or did she was going to make the most of her blessing, and she'd be damned if max and Liz weren't gonna accept each other again!  
  
***  
  
Max and Michael looked across Maria's bedroom at Serena. 'What else can you tell us about the FBI?'  
  
'I've been watching Maria and Liz for a while now. They're very clever, the FBI I mean, they must have enrolled here as students, otherwise they'd have been too obvious. But over the past couple of days there have been more and more of them, it's like they're flocking here for some reason, someone close to Liz and Maria must be supplying them with information or something.'  
  
'Any idea who it could be?' questioned Max urgently, they had to get this sorted out as soon as possible, he didn't Liz any further in to this than she already was!  
  
'No, they've kept themselves to themselves a lot, there's no one it could be.'  
  
'What about Adam?'  
  
'Well-'  
  
They all turned their faces towards the sitting room as the sound of loud voices drifted towards them. Max leapt to his feet and rushed to the door, closely followed by Michael and Serena.  
  
'What do you mean?' choked Maria angrily. 'He wouldn't do something like that!'  
  
'He would Maria! He just did, it's gone! I'm telling you he's one of them!!' half-shouted Liz, her face aflame.  
  
'Couldn't you just have dropped it?' asked Kyle reasonably.  
  
'What's going on?' Max requested over the din.  
  
'We have to leave,' replied Isabel from behind him, her face was white with terror.  
  
'We what?' demanded Michael angrily. Leave? He'd only just found Maria, there was no way in hell he was leaving her now! Not while she was still stuck in this mess! the only time he was gonna leave was when she was out of this, when she was safe! 'The FBI have got Liz' journal,' explained Kyle.  
  
'How?' asked Serena quickly before anyone could interrupt.  
  
'Adam.' said Liz bluntly.  
  
Serena raised her eyebrows.  
  
'But-' interrupted Maria. She knew Adam, he would never do a thing like this! he just wouldn't! Surely she couldn't be as wrong as all that!  
  
'He did! he came up to me asking all kinds of questions, so I left but now my journal's gone! I had it when I was talking to him.'  
  
Serena looked round at her new found friends with a set face, 'No one leave this apartment. I have to go.' Why couldn't something go right for a change around here? 


	17. Alex?

'They're back!'  
  
'I know! Why do you think I'm here?'  
  
'You know? Why didn't you tell me? I needn't have taken this if I'd known!'  
  
'But they're not gonna take the news that the journal is missing well are they?'  
  
'She dropped it! What was I supposed to do? Just give it back? I thought it would help! The others are on their way, I had to get the information! How was I supposed to know that it was them and not the others! You never told me about the connection!'  
  
'When am I supposed to have had the time? I've only been back for a few weeks! I didn't even realise you were here until a couple of days ago when you contacted me! I haven't exactly had the easiest time! Those guys aren't exactly the best of friends at the moment! It's like something from a soap opera.'  
  
'Yeah well a soap opera doesn't include us lot!!'  
  
'Look, we have to act now, we can't put it off any more, they're gonna leave, we have to stop them! it's imperative!'  
  
'What do you propose we do?'  
  
'You have to tell them who you are.'  
  
'I what?'  
  
***  
  
Maria stood in Michael's arms, 'Please don't leave me now Michael Guerin.'  
  
'I promise you Maria, I'm not going any where.'  
  
'None of us are,' said Max from the other side of the room, 'it's time we stood up and faced our fears.'  
  
'Your fears Max,' said Liz. 'The rest of us are just trying to get our lives back.'  
  
Maria plunged her head back into Michael's shoulder trying to shut the world out. Why did everything have to be so different? Why was it so hard to remember that time when they were all so happy?  
  
'Liz we have to talk., now,' said Max.  
  
Liz swallowed, well here it went, she'd promised. She walked into her room and shut the door behind Max as he walked in. 'What do you want to know?' she asked coldly.  
  
Out in the sitting room the four friends eyed each other worriedly, could this be a good thing?  
  
'I want to try and explain some things to. to try and make you understand.' said Max. Liz stared at him unmoved.  
  
'Okay,' she said, she had promised him this much, she could listen.  
  
'When I saw you in that bed with Kyle. I-I lost it. I couldn't bare the thought of life without you, I went out to the park to think and just as I decided what I would do Tess came up to me, she came to me when I was weakest and took advantage of it. We got closer through the memory retrieval and she began to mind warp me.'  
  
Liz felt the anger begin to well up in her, was he just trying to excuse away his guilt? As if he was again just righteous little Max? Saint Max!  
  
'I went to the observatory that night to work out how to get you back, she was there, we looked at the stars for a while and then something happened. I don't know what, she just well, she just. I don't really remember, all I remember is waking up beside her and feeling how wrong it was, not quite understanding what had happened.'  
  
'Oh come on Max!' Liz blew up. 'It takes two to tango! Tess would have had a bit of trouble doing all that by herself, you needed to be a willing participant. You can't just blame everything on the mind warp and expect me to accept it!'  
  
Max swallowed, but didn't back down. 'I'm not saying that Liz, I was wrong, I shouldn't have done it. I regret it more than you could ever believe-'  
  
'Regret? What the hell do you know about regret?' interrupted Liz. 'Have you ever woken up regretting every single second of your past? Well I have! I regret the fact that I was just a few seconds too late to stop you from leaving, I regret the fact that I ever listened to future Max, I regret that even for a little bit I thought destiny would leave us alone, even for a little while, and I regret every second I've lost of my life and every second I've lost with the people I love, for myself! Regrets hurt Max, they're something I live with every second of the day!'  
  
'And you think I don't know that?' Max flared up, loosing control, he let his heart take over, just letting throw out everything he'd been feeling. 'You're not the only one who's hurting Liz! Wake up and smell the roses! Let your eyes see the people around you! Maria and Kyle have lost their lives too, Isabel and Michael lost everything they had! I know how much pain I've caused! I have to live with that, I'll always have to live with it but that doesn't mean I'm going to tear myself down to a level where my friends pity me and I can't live my life. I know I've done wrong! I've done more wrong than most people will ever do but dwelling on that isn't going to help me to do right in the future! If you'd stop being so self centred Liz then you'd see how many people love you and how many people you're hurting! I'm not the one that matters here Liz, neither are you! It's the people who've been hurt because of us! It's time we started doing things right, but you'll never be able to do that until you let go, until you acknowledge that you have a right to move on!'  
  
Max walked swiftly from the room leaving a shell-shocked Liz standing behind him.  
  
Liz stood still for a long time until she realised that she was shaking, sitting down on the bed she fought to regain her self control. As her mind regained its balance anger began to sweep over her. How dare Max lecture her? What right did he have to come in here and preach at her? Him of all people! Nothing she had done was as bad as what he had done!  
  
'Give it up Liz!'  
  
Liz started at the sound of a voice, she swung round, 'Alex.' she whispered.  
  
***  
  
Liz stared in fear at the apparition in front of her. It was Alex. well almost Alex. His face looked strained and his eyes had lost the light they had always held.  
  
'A-Alex.'  
  
'Liz!' He grinned as he flung himself into her arms. 'It's been too long!'  
  
Liz pulled herself away in fear, 'What are you?'  
  
'I'm me Liz, there's no other way to explain it!' replied Alex. His heart sank as he saw the fear in her eyes, she really had changed. 'What are you doing to yourself?'  
  
'I'm rebuilding my life,' replied Liz firmly. but for the first time a small doubt appeared at the back of her mind and she couldn't block it out.  
  
'Are you?' asked Alex. 'Are you really? Cos from where I am it certainly doesn't look like it!'  
  
'And where are you Alex?' asked Liz, her voice growing cold. 'You're dead! And all because of Max and Tess, and now everyone else is suffering too!'  
  
'Oh give it up Liz!' replied Alex, exasperatedly. 'We all did this to ourselves! By running, by hiding, by not being ourselves! Michael and Maria hiding from their love, you pretending you didn't love Max, Max pretending to love Tess, Isabel hiding behind her ice queen mask and Kyle just trying to be the dumb jock he was because he knew. And me, trying to crawl out of the situation, trying to get away from where I belonged! Don't you see that you're still hiding! You're not rebuilding your life Liz, you're destroying it!'  
  
'Destroying it?' Liz flared up. 'What, by trying to be normal? By trying to show Tess how wrong she was? By trying to get away from Max?'  
  
'Come on Liz! You know that's not what you're doing! You know and I know, deep down in your heart all you want to do is to cause pain to the people who've hurt you most, Max and Tess. You want revenge, nothing more, nothing less, only it's ripping you apart. Where did your morals go Lizzie? Where did the girl who cared for everyone go? The girl who would spend her last bit of money on an ice cream for a kid who'd dropped theirs! You've lost yourself Liz, and if you wait much longer you'll never be able to find yourself.'  
  
Liz stared at Alex in amazement as the words flew from his mouth and stung her soul. wasn't he the one she had been trying to avenge all these years? Her selfless acts and he was just yelling at her? Everything she had done for him and he was turning on her in favour of Max. 'Why are you here?' she asked coldly.  
  
'I'm here to try and help you remember Liz, I'm here to put things right.'  
  
'Yeah, well unless you can rise from the dead then I don't think that's gonna happen!' replied Liz as she turned away.  
  
'Liz, I wasn't meant to be one of the gang, not forever, if you'd let go then you'd see how much stronger you all are now. Everyone's stepping out from behind the tree, they're all letting go of the past and looking to the future. Have Maria and Michael been arguing as much? No, because Michael knows who he is now and he knows that he belongs with Maria. Kyle came back, sure he ran at first but he's back now to help, and Isabel hasn't been the Ice Queen, she's been herself, perhaps for the first time ever. And Max has begun to heal, think of what he lost Liz, he lost you, he lost his son, he lost his family, he lost everything that mattered to him but he's trying to make things right now. Just like you should.'  
  
'What Max lost? What about what I lost, huh Alex?'  
  
'When you said that did you even think about what I lost Liz?' Liz stopped abruptly, what Alex had lost, well. 'No! You didn't! Can't you see you have to let go! It's not about what we lost is it, it was at first but now it's an obsession! I sat and watched my own funeral! I heard my parents crying at night, don't ask me how, but I did. And I hope you will never know how painful that is but I've let go, what Tess did was wrong and I agree she has to be stopped but you're not a killer Liz. You never were, and I never thought you could be, but you've been trying very hard to prove me wrong.'  
  
Liz turned back to Alex, tears in her eyes. ' Look Liz, I'm not here to hurt you, I'm here to help you, to help you find yourself again. Just like the others. They've all discovered themselves so why are you holding onto the past! The past isn't what matters Liz, surely you understand that!'  
  
Liz nodded silently and sat down next to Alex. She leant her head onto his shoulder. 'I can't forgive Max, he hurt me!'  
  
'Lizzie, it'll take time but no ones asking you to get back with Max, I just want you to be happy!'  
  
'What do I do?'  
  
'You have to let go! Max was right. And I don't want to be here, I have a place to go to Liz but I can't leave you until you let me go! I won't leave you until you and Maria are back on track!'  
  
'But you shouldn't be dead.. Things shouldn't have happened that way!'  
  
'Liz I'm dead because it was what was meant to be! It's better that way, I don't mind! I'm happy, or at least I will be when I can see my closest friend become herself. Liz you have to step out from behind the tree, show your true self! The person you're pretending to be isn't the Elizabeth Parker I know!'  
  
Liz swallowed and looked down, 'You know I love you right Alex.'  
  
'I know Liz,' he replied taking her into his arms. Tears began to fall from Liz' eyes onto his shirt.  
  
'Please don't leave me yet Alex,' she sobbed, she wasn't ready to lose him again.  
  
'I won't Lizzie, I'll be back soon. I'll stick around until you're ready , just try and make that sooner rather than later, it hurts to see you like this!'  
  
'I will Alex.. thank you.'  
  
Liz watched as Alex faded from view, giving her one last parting smile.  
  
Liz sighed sadly and lay back onto her bed to think. What should she do? 


	18. Letters

Maria watched with anguish as Max stormed out of Liz' room, a lone tear making its way down his cheek. Was this madness never going to end? She stood up from the sofa, letting Michael's arm fall away from her shoulder.  
  
'Where are you going?' he asked looking away from the movie they had been watching.  
  
'Just to my room for a while,' she replied with a small smile.  
  
A small sigh escaped her lips as she walked past the silent bathroom where Max had hidden himself. Walking into her room she sat down at her small table, found a pen and paper and began to write.  
  
I'It's weird the habits we pick up from our friends, Liz has been writing as an escape for years but I'd never really considered it until the podsters left us. Now it just seems normal. I've never used a journal like Liz does, too risky, but I use paper and burn it after I'm finished. I don't even know why I'm telling you this Alex, you already know! Some how I know that you've received every letter I've ever written you, but this one's more important. Liz needs help, more than she's ever done before and I know that you're the only person left that she'll listen to. It's not that I believe in ghosts I just don't believe that when Tess killed you she could have severed the connection we all share! That's why Liz went to get the others even when she didn't want to, why Kyle could never escape and why I've never given up on Michael. I know the connection's changing now, just as much as you do, and that new people are coming who we need but the old connection will never end, you'll always be there for us. Just like you were always there when you were alive.  
  
I don't think it's a coincidence that we were never caught when listening to the FBI from behind walls, no one's that stupid! Especially that time Liz dropped a stone on her foot and had to jump around with her hand in her mouth to stop her from screaming! You remember that? Oh. yeah I guess, you shouldn't, but that's just the thing, it felt like you were there, holding Liz' other hand while steering those men in the wrong direction so we could get out of there.  
  
I know that you'll be there for us when ever we need you, that's why I'm writing to you know, everything's falling apart, even worse than before. Liz' journal got stolen, by Adam. But I know he's not an FBI person just like you do! There's something about him Alex, something that reminds me of you, an essence that makes me know he's one of us. You know, connected! And though it's impossible it's always seemed in some weird way like you've met him, the times when we used to talk about you he just had this look in his eyes, like he was remembering something!  
  
Isabel is the silver lining in the cloud. The weight that was on her shoulders all this time is finally beginning to lift. She misses you, you know. The second thing she saw coming through the portal was your guitar, it hurt her but she's living with it! She'll never forget you. I think you're still with her too, guiding her now. Everything about it has the Alex Whitman charm, I should have known you'd never let her go! Your warmth is finally melting the ice queen layer around her and even though it's too late for her to have you I can see that you want her to be happy! You're giving her every chance to fall in love, how about Adam? He'd never let any harm come to her, and I have a feeling that he knows if he hurts her he'll have one pissed Whitman on his tail!  
  
I wish you were here Alex, I miss you. No matter how hard I try to hide it I can't stop missing you! I just wish I could see you one more time, to say good bye, to tell you all the things I want you to here. To play my new song with you, to play with the Whits just one more time! Did you know they released a tribute song for you? It sold like wild fire in Roswell, and even got onto a national radio station! All the money went to your parents and they gave most of it away to your favourite charity, you know the orphanage that took in all of Roswell's orphans, the one that Max and Issy spent some time at.  
  
The Whits are on tour at the moment, and their debut album is out soon, it's called Alex. They even let me sing a couple of songs for it, but I didn't want to go on tour with them cos I couldn't leave Liz. I'm not complaining though, life's good here, but I'm glad your band is doing well! Do you remember that time we sang for the Blind date contest? Talk about stage fright on my part! I could have sworn you were gonna kill me that night! And all those times we played together in the evenings at the Crashdown while Liz cleaned up? She hated that, I'd leave her to do all the cleaning while we just sat and sang!  
  
Good times huh Alex? I guess I'd better go and pick up some pieces now. Keep yourself save Alex, and come back soon yeah!' i/  
  
Maria wiped a tear from her eyes as she folded the paper and walk to the window. Pushing it open she picked up the nearly empty packet of matches lying on the window-sill, slowly she lit one and held it to the corner of her letter.  
  
'I love you Alex,' she whispered as the finally piece of letter became ashes and tears dripped onto her cheeks. 


	19. A little peice of History

'Michael.' said Isabel.  
  
'Yeah,' he replied, lifting his head to look at her.  
  
'You don't believe Adam really is an FBI agent do you?'  
  
Michael grunted and raised his shoulders, turning his attention back to the TV. God he'd missed this, if there was one thing on Antar that sucked, it was the lack of violent movies and hockey! If he'd had to go any longer without hockey he'd probably have ripped off his own head and hit it around the jail cell with a stick just to make himself feel better, that would satisfy his violent side too! The only problem was that it was impossible for him to watch a violent film at the same time as the hockey and spending time with Maria! It sucked big!  
  
Isabel sighed and looked down at her hands. She couldn't work out what it was she was feeling, it was that feeling she felt when Alex was there, that sense of security that told her everything was Ok. That was why she was siding with Maria on this one, Adam couldn't be bad, he was just too- too Alex like!  
  
Michael glanced back across at Isabel as she sighed. 'Why does I bother you so much?'  
  
Isabel gave herself a small smile, two whole years in a jail on Antar and he still hadn't learnt tact! 'I dunno,' she replied hesitantly. 'It just- Forget it.'  
  
Michael began to turn back to the TV, she obviously didn't want to talk about it. but suddenly an image flew into his mind, Maria, with her hands on her hips, glaring at him. Fine! Fine, he thought. 'No, tell me.'  
  
Isabel looked up at him in surprise, maybe Antar had done him some good after all! 'It just feels like,' she paused. 'It's really dumb.'  
  
'Tell me!' persisted Michael. 'I took two years of your girlie gossip fine, don't stop now, I might start missing it!'  
  
Isabel smiled at him. 'It just feels like saying he betrayed us is saying Alex betrayed us. But we know that isn't true, it just feels wrong.' She turned her gaze down to her hands in embarrassment.  
  
Michael stared at her in surprise. That made sense, wasn't that what had been lying under everything he had been thinking for the last hour, well other than the playing hockey with his head thing. 'I know how you-'  
  
Michael was cut off by the opening of the front door, both he and Isabel leapt to their feet, hands raised in fear of the intruder.  
  
'Who's there?' demanded Michael as Isabel began to edge towards the bathroom where Max was hidden.  
  
'Relax it's just me!' replied Serena as she walked into the room.  
  
A door flew open and Liz rushed out, her face pale. 'Serena! Did you get my- ' she stopped as a look of anger passed over her face. 'You!'  
  
Michael swung his eyes back to the door when she spoke.  
  
'Uh. hey?'  
  
'ADAM!' squealed Maria, running out of her room and straight at him. 'Michael Geurin don't you dare try any funny business.'  
  
'What's going on?' asked Max as he walked out of the bathroom into the chaos.  
  
Adam swallowed, just what he loved, a party. Oh God! They were gonna kill him, blast him into tiny pieces and then slowly incinerate him. His pulse rate quickened and he looked around in panic, in search of a friendly face. It wasn't like he signed up for the ride, he'd just been dragged down into this whole cruddy alien thing! The alien abyss, Adam gave a wry inward smile at the memory of that saying and it's speaker. It sure would have been great if he was here now, just one friendly face. Suddenly his eyes stopped on one person, his friendly face.  
  
'Come in,' said Isabel, 'And close the door before someone sees.'  
  
Adam smiled uneasily as she addressed him, he wasn't used to such beautiful women talking to him, well other than Serena, Maria and Liz but they didn't count, they were becoming more like sisters, incredibly pretty sisters, but still sisters.  
  
'Come on,' said Serena taking him by the arm and leading his unwilling body into the room.  
  
Maria quickly closed the door behind them and walked to Michael's side. She unobtrusively reached out her hand and clamped his right arm firmly to his side. He looked down at her with slight annoyance. 'What?' she said. 'I'm just making sure you don't do anything you might seriously regret!'  
  
Isabel followed Serena and Adam to the couch and sat down. 'Max?' she said looking behind her, looking for his instructions.  
  
Max looked away, unwilling to be in charge, this wasn't his ball game. This one was up to Liz.  
  
Adam cleared his throat and looked round the silent group nervously. This was fricking crazy! What on earth was he thinking? Aliens! Aliens that could shatter you into a million pieces with a flick of the wrist and here he was sitting in a room with four of them and one extremely pissed human who apparently had her own bag of tricks! He was crazy! Absolutely mad. 'Ummm. hey?' he offered weakly into the deathly silence.  
  
Michael glared at the boy on the couch. It looked like Maxwell was shirking his responsibility so it was his job to conduct the investigation. 'What ermmm.' Damn this was harder than he thought. 'What the hell is he doing here?' he demanded, turning his attentions to Serena.  
  
'You know [I]he[/I] has a name!' growled Maria from beside him.  
  
'Right,' replied Michael. 'What is the crazy, Diary stealing, FBI agent doing here- Ow! Ria that hurt!'  
  
'Yeah well learn some manners,' she replied looking down at his shin, which hopefully was going to have a nasty bruise in the morning. Never mess with hurricane DeLuca. 'Adam, it seems no one else is gonna ask you anything so it looks like I'm just gonna have to take control. Please explain to my mindless friends that you are not out to kill them!'  
  
Adam looked gratefully up at Maria, trust her to come though for me. He opened his mouth to reply only to be interrupted by a small voice from the other side of the room.  
  
'Why did you do it Adam?'  
  
Adam looked over at Liz' fragile form and was instantly sorry for all his past actions. Her face looked tired and there were big dark rings under her eyes and he could faintly make out tear stains on her pale cheeks. 'I. I was trying to help.' he said weakly.  
  
'Help?' demanded Michael. 'What by putting all our lives at risk? By betraying us to the FBI?'  
  
Michael winced as he waited for Maria's attack on him but it was Serena's voice that broke into the discussion for the first time. 'No offense Michael, but don't open your royal mouth about things you have no idea over!'  
  
Everyone looked at her in surprise, except for Adam.  
  
Kyle blinked at the stunning woman just across the room from him. He couldn't believe it, beautiful and tough too. This had to be Kyle Valenti's year! Hell she was so amazing, he'd marry her right now.  
  
Michael gaped at her in amazement, had that really just come out of her mouth. Maria grinned at the black haired girl sitting next to Adam, she had definitely found another best friend! Anyone who spoke to Michael like that had to be great!  
  
'What's going on, Serena?' asked Liz.  
  
'I guess I haven't been entirely straight with you,' said Serena looking at her hands in embarrassment. 'I'm uhh, not entirely new to earth. I used to live here.'  
  
'You what?' growled Michael.  
  
'I was sent here five years ago to look for you. Antar was going crazy, Kivar had defeated most of the rebel armies, we needed the king back. The word on the streets was that the prophecy must be fulfilled, that if it did not happen soon Antar would be lost forever.' She paused to survey the group, they were all listening intently. 'And so they sent me down-'  
  
'Why you? Why just one small girl on such a big mission,' asked Isabel with curiosity.  
  
Serena gave a slight smile. 'I asked to come, my father was leader of the rebel cause but he had been captured just a few months before, I knew the only hope he had was if the king returned and rescued him. And I came alone because no others could be spared, they all had to fight.'  
  
Adam reached out his had and gently squeezed her arm in encouragement. She smiled back at him, both Isabel and Kyle's eyes flashed for a slight second. 'Earth wasn't what I had expected, I was young and foolish. I thought earth was some sort of paradise and that you would be easy to find, that one didn't work out! The portal opened somewhere in New York, earth was just a little different to Antar.' she added with a laugh. 'Believe me when I say I had a hard time working out what the hell a cab was. I had a few tight misses with my powers when I first arrived as well, it took me about a week to figure out that the less I used them in public, the more likely I was to be accepted. '  
  
'How did you know where to look for them?' asked Maria, curiously.  
  
'I didn't,' she replied simply. 'I stayed in New York for about one and a half years infiltrating the FBI, getting as much information as I could without much luck. The only alien that they seemed to know anything about was a shape-shifter traveling his way across country, killing humans as he went, obviously on the same quest I was, finding you. But then half way through the year information started pouring in about a shooting in Roswell, New Mexico.'  
  
'About a girl who was miraculously healed,' said Liz quietly.  
  
Serena nodded. 'I decided to leave New York and head across to New Mexico to see what I could find, I didn't start in Roswell, I didn't think the aliens would have stayed there if the FBI was on to them so I travelled round looking for them. Right at the end of that second year something happened that told me and pretty much everyone else where you were.'  
  
'We set the orbs off,' replied Max quietly, remembering the fateful day when he and Liz were once again torn cruelly apart.  
  
'Yes, an orb, or a trap, call it what you want. All I knew was that if I didn't find you quickly then you would all be dead within months.'  
  
'What?' asked Kyle in confusion. Hmmm dead within months, he didn't remember that happening. 'But you didn't find us, and we're sure as hell not dead.'  
  
Again Serena nodded, this time with a sad look upon her face. 'No you're not, but one of you is.'  
  
'Alex,' said Adam.  
  
'How do you know about Alex?' asked Isabel quickly and sharply.  
  
'I-' Adam looked helplessly at Serena. 


	20. A few home truths

CHAPTER 20  
  
Serena smiled reassuringly at Adam. He looked scared to death. 'Go on,' she said quietly to him. 'They may as well know!'  
  
Adam took his eyes off Serena's face and looked at the daunting group in front of him. He wasn't ready for this! No one had warned him what he was getting into, he wasn't ready to re-live it again. And it wasn't as though he wanted to be involved in all this! He'd rather jump off a very large cliff into a very cold lake with very few clothes on than do this!  
  
His eyes came to rest on Isabel's face, she was looking at him with curiosity in her eyes, but there was more than that, there was. trust? Adam felt courage fill him as he saw it. He was ready, he could do it. He could do it for her, and for Alex. 'I-' he faltered, but Serena squeezed his hand very slightly, urging him on. 'I'm Alex' brother.'  
  
The room fell completely silent, they were all looking at him with disbelief written all over their faces. Adam shuddered, they didn't believe him, they already though he was a liar! How could he make they believe him! How could he make [I]her[/I] believe him??  
  
'Go on,' urged Serena, once again, from beside him.  
  
Adam swallowed, he didn't know what to say, where to start! He looked at Isabel again, his heart broke at the sight before him. Tears were welling up in her eyes, there was anger on her face, hurt, sadness but still there was trust. Trust that he could not understand! Why was she believing him? It was she of all people who should hate him most! He opened his mouth once more to try and explain.  
  
'Why are you saying this?' asked a quiet voice from the other side of the room.  
  
Adam looked up and saw Liz standing at the other end of the room, small tears on her cheeks. 'Because it's true.'  
  
'No,' Liz shook her head weakly. 'Alex would have told us! Why are you lying?? WHY?!'  
  
Tears were rolling swiftly down her face now. Adam quelled in her gaze. What was he doing? Why was he destroying everything they knew? How could he be breaking Liz' heart again? He'd always tried to help her, to keep her safe and now here he was destroying her world. Why was he doing this?  
  
Alex.  
  
That was his answer, he was doing this for Alex! The brother he'd never known, they'd both been robbed by this alien madness but he couldn't just leave it now. Alex would never have abandoned Liz and Maria, so he wouldn't either.  
  
'He was going to, he just never got the chance.'  
  
'Okay, stop here! Back up a little diary boy!' Michael broke in. 'You want to tell us why we've never met you before even though the Whitmans lived in Roswell for their entire life?'  
  
Here goes nothing, thought Adam. 'Because Alex wasn't a Whitman.'  
  
'What?' gasped Maria. She walked unsteadily to a chair and sat down. 'Adam, please. I've known Alex since we were like three and Liz has known him since she was two! And he's been a Whitman all that time! So how can he 'not be a Whitman'??'  
  
'Because he was adopted.' Adam breathed a huge comforting breath. This was so much damned harder than he'd ever imagined it being, and he'd been imagining telling Liz and Maria about it since the day he'd met them. But the added Alien element was definitely making it a bit harder, along with the diary thing!  
  
'They why'd he never say anything to us?' said Kyle, finally speaking up. It was weird, really weird, but for some reason he didn't need convincing. The fact that Serena seemed so sure was enough for him! The black haired girl who looked like she had the wisdom of a thousand times her years was encouraging the tale, she believed him. That was good enough for Kyle.  
  
'Because he never knew, or at least not until I met him.'  
  
'When was that?' asked Isabel. The calm in her voice seemed unnatural under the circumstances but ever since the initial shock she had known that everything being said was true. After all it explained her feelings from earlier. Of course he felt like Alex! He was Alex' brother. All her anger had faded away just like in that days when Alex had held her, it seemed like he was there holding her now, telling her everything would be alright.  
  
Serena looked over at Adam and was relieved to see he was holding out a lot better than she's expected. These people were crazy, she hadn't thought Adam could manage it, this wasn't quite how she'd planned telling them. 'I think you'd better start at the beginning Adam, right at the beginning!'  
  
Adam nodded gently and then looked down at his hands. 'Well, I guess it started back before I can remember much. I was just two and Mom and Dad took us on a cruise, I forget where. Alex was just 6 months old. We'd gone out to an island for the day, it had been great, apparently we all really enjoyed it! We got on the ferry to come back home at about 7 o'clock, it was already really dark, the weather wasn't great. But when we got half way across a storm started. The boat was old and the storm got so bad that we had to go to the life rafts. My Mom was holding me and dad had Alex.' Adam shuddered as his only memory of the incident came back to him, just the sounds of some screams and the rain on his face.  
  
Serena squeezed Adam's hand again in comfort, she knew how hard this was for him, she'd seen the flashes!  
  
'Mom and dad got split up on the way to the rafts, we got in one, Dad and Alex got into another. That's about it. We never saw them again.' He swallowed, blinking back tears. 'Mom figured that they must've died, drowned or something. A couple of the rafts didn't make it back. She didn't tell me what happened, she just said that my dad had died in a car accident when I was very young. I never even knew Alex existed! We moved to New York and I lived there until I was sixteen.' He paused again, trying to find the will to continue. He looked up at the expectant faces of the group around him. 'Mom was diagnosed with cancer just after I turned 15, she was given under a year to live, she told me everything. '  
  
Adam stopped talking and looked towards Serena, begging her to help him.  
  
'She told him about Alex,' said Serena, taking over. 'And after she died he set out to find him.'  
  
Adam listened half heartedly as Serena told them all about his failure in the early months of his search. He could still remember it, he'd had no idea where to start. He was only 16 for goodness sakes! It wasn't as though he was used to this sort of thing, no where close! He'd almost starved! Like that would have helped his Mom!  
  
'I was still in New York, infiltrating the FBI, things hadn't been going too well. There was an agent, just one agent who was on to me. I dunno how he'd found out, or even how he'd got so close but he walked in on me at my job one day, just like a normal guy and we got involved.' Serena blushed as she remembered. 'He seemed normal, we were even gonna move in with each other-' Kyle grimaced inwardly, jealousy flooding his senses. '-but then I found a gun in his jacket pocket at dinner when he lent me his coat. He knew I'd worked it out and he dragged me into an ally with a gun pointed at me. Just as he pulled the trigger some idiot ran down the ally right in front of me, getting shot instead. Enter Adam Sheldon.'  
  
Adam grinned sheepishly as everyone looked at him in amazement, 'I wasn't a very good pick pocket at that point, the guy was chasing me! It turned out that the ally was the easiest escape! Or at least I thought so, it proved slightly different!'  
  
'The agent freaked out and tried to run, I blasted him with my powers, he died. Adam was just lying on the ground in front of me, bleeding to death, I didn't know what to do! I never was a great healer and people were just coming down the end of the ally cos they'd hard the gun. So I opened a portal and took him back to Antar.'  
  
'I thought I'd died!' Adam chuckled. 'There were bright lights and strange people all around me, oh, and a large silver hand print on my chest!'  
  
'So who healed you?' asked Maria with interest.  
  
'I did,' said Serena. 'With help.'  
  
'After that I had very few secrets from you!' said Adam quietly.  
  
'We vowed to help each other, I'd help him find his brother and he'd help me find the royal family of Antar. He came with me to Roswell.'  
  
'I think she got the better deal,' muttered Adam.  
  
Kyle grinned at him, he liked this guy, if only he wasn't sitting quite so close to Serena! 'So what happened then?'  
  
'Well that's where the confusing story starts!' sighed Adam. He felt a little better now that people were starting to believe him, perhaps this didn't all have to be as hard as he had tried to make it!  
  
'Somehow I think the last part was confusing enough!' groaned Maria.  
  
'So why should we believe you?' asked Liz.  
  
Everyone turned to her in astonishment. Not believe?  
  
Perhaps I spoke too soon! Thought Adam, his heart sinking back down to his boots. 


	21. Mind warp

A/N: Hey all! Sorry this part's been so long in coming, my life has been the ultimate of hectic! I hope it's OK! I haven't exactly figured out the italics tags for here so anything started with [I] and ended with [/I] is a flash back! Don't forget the feedback! Thanks for being so patient!  
  
CHAPTER 21  
  
'Believe him?' asked Maria in astonishment. 'Liz! This guy has been our friend for like ages. He's helped us out through all that time! You used to trust him with your life! How can you not believe him?'  
  
'I used to trust a lot of people with my life, and more! And where did that leave me?' said Liz quietly, making her point clear to everyone in the room. 'And as for him being our friend for ages, Tess was our friend for a year, and trusting her was a bad idea!'  
  
'But-'  
  
'The reason you should believe this Liz is that deep down you know this happened!' said Serena seriously. 'Because Alex would want you to believe!'  
  
***  
  
[I]Adam flopped over on the rough mattress. He looked around at the dirty walls of the rank motel room. Wrinkling his nose he looked back over that Serena. She was sitting at the table, her hair flopping in front of her face, looking down at the chart before her. The chart was of New Mexico but all over it were strange markings, almost like Egyptian hieroglyphics, that were completely foreign to Adam's eye.  
  
He let out a frustrated sigh, 'Come on Serena! You can't seriously expect to find them! It's been months. And in all this time we've had nothing solid, not one thing! Not one place indicated as to where they might be! Face it this is hopeless.'  
  
Serena's eyes flashed up from the map. 'Nothing solid?' She repeated incredulously. 'So what do you call twelve children miraculously healed from life threatening cancer? With only the hand of Antar to show who had done it? An orb being set of?? A massing of the skins to Copper Summit? Nothing solid? That seems pretty damned solid to me! Nothing like this has ever happened on earth before, they have to be here somewhere! Everything, everyone is being drawn here to New Mexico, something weird is happening. Zan is near! We have to try,' she added softly. 'It's the only way we'll ever get my father back.'  
  
'Your father?' shouted Adam. 'What about my brother? He's out there somewhere too! No even knowing I exist. He could be dying from some disease or something. What about him? Or does he just not count in the great measure of the problems on Antar? Is he just some worthless human to be forgotten?'  
  
'No!' gasped Serena, stunned at Adam's implications. 'No! You think I'd do that? You really think I'd do that to you? I made a promise Adam, and I intend to keep it, no matter what happens! I do NOT break my promises!'[/I]  
  
***  
  
And she didn't,' said Adam quietly. 'About a month later our search brought us to Roswell. It wasn't like we expected to find anything there, Roswell was just a freak show. No self-respecting alien would hide themselves there. or so we thought!'  
  
***  
  
[I]Serena looked in disgust at the outside of a UFO museum. 'Humans can be so freaking dumb!' she spat. 'Oh, sorry, no offense.' she added blushing.  
  
Adam grinned at her, 'Well I like to think some of us are better than others, after all this planet can't be completely devoid of intelligent life right?'  
  
'No of course not!' replied Serena. 'Not while you've still got mice!'  
  
'Awww gee thanks! I'm eternally wounded!' said Adam mocking hurt. 'Come on, let's go see what sick food they sell in this freak hole!' he added pointing towards the Crashdown.  
  
'Yeah why not, perhaps the mice think up the menu!' she laughed and began to drag him towards the door. Suddenly she stopped dead in her tracks.  
  
'Owww! What was that for?' demanded Adam, rubbing his head where it had just hit Serena's.  
  
But Serena wasn't listening. Heck she probably didn't even know he was talking. She was just staring straight ahead of her towards a small group of people about their age.  
  
'Oh my God!' said Adam his jaw dropping  
  
'It's her! She's the one!' said Serena excitedly. 'She has the strongest mark I've ever seen!'  
  
But Adam wasn't looking at the petit brown haired girl that Serena seemed fixated with. He was looking at the tall brown haired boy clutching two suitcases, two suitcases marked with the name Alex Whitman.[/I]  
  
***  
  
'That was where the harmony ended.' said Serena as she threw a slight smile at Adam. 'Adam wanted to go after Alex, he was sure even at first glance that he'd found his brother and he didn't want to lose him now. But I wanted, needed to stay there in Roswell and find out more!'  
  
'So I told her that I was leaving either way, she could either help me or we'd be over.'  
  
'So I figured it was time Adam got his chance, it wasn't as though you guys were going anywhere fast and this guy seemed to know you, so it was win win. Right?'  
  
'Yeah well we followed him to the airport, normal. But then the car turned round and began to head in the opposite direction.'  
  
'Not so normal!'  
  
'And we ended up here, something was SO wrong.'  
  
***  
  
[I]'Serena what the hell's going?' demanded Adam, slamming the door behind him.  
  
'Just trust me!'  
  
'Look, I've trusted you blindly up until now but I think it's time you told me what's going on! I've just enrolled into a university I've never seen, under a name I've never heard, into a subject I know squat about! What the hell are you doing?'  
  
Serena let out a sigh of annoyance, 'It's complicated OK?'  
  
'Complicated? This was meant to be the simple part of this whole quest! Finding my brother! How is this complicated??'  
  
'Look! Something's not right!'  
  
'I know something's not right! For starters my brother is sitting just down the corridor from me and yet I'm not talking to him! And for another thing I don't even want to be at Las Cruces University! And again within the last few months I've found out Aliens exist and yet I haven't had a nervous break down!! OF COURSE SOMETHING'S NOT RIGHT!!'  
  
'Something's not right with Alex!' replied Serena. throwing herself down onto the bed, almost in tears.  
  
'What?' asked Adam, his voice softening slightly.  
  
'I-I think someone's mind warping him!' sighed Serena in defeat.  
  
'Mind what?' asked Adam, taken aback.  
  
'Controlling him, making him do stuff!'  
  
'Controlling him?' asked Adam, increasingly anxious. 'Like alien kind of controlling?'  
  
Serena nodded weakly.  
  
'So who's doing it?'  
  
'I don't know!' she replied, frustrated at herself. 'But it makes everything so much more complicated!!'  
  
'So how do we break him out of it?' asked Adam gently as he sat down next to her.  
  
'I don't know if I can!' Serena blinked back further tears. She was failing, she couldn't keep her promise to Adam, she couldn't keep her promise to herself! She couldn't save her father, all she knew was there was a traitor and that messed up everything!  
  
'We'll work it out!' said Adam as he took her into his arms, cradling her head on his shoulder. 'It can't be that hard to break a mindwarp, maybe we can just jolt him out of it!'  
  
'No!' cried Serena, pulling away. 'We can't!'  
  
'Why?'  
  
'We just-' Serena hesitated. 'We just can't!'[/I]  
  
***  
  
'Serena was right, it did make everything a whole lot more complicated! Now we needed a plan of action. The only problem was, Serena and I were going for completely different things!'  
  
***  
  
[I]'I just don't get the point of this!' moaned Adam angrily. 'Isn't the whole point to break Alex out of the mind warp and get him to take us to Zan?'  
  
'No!' said Serena, dropping down onto her mattress and running through her hair. 'I need to know why he's being controlled, and by who! Otherwise I don't know how breaking him out of the mindwarp will affect him! I don't even know how to break him out of the mind warp!'  
  
'What do you mean affect him?' demanded Adam.  
  
'I- I mean if we were to do it wrong he could be hurt,' she sighed. 'Maybe even killed.'  
  
'Killed?' gaped Adam.  
  
'Yes,' she groaned. 'And then what ever traitor is doing this will know something's up!'  
  
'Great, just great!' muttered Adam sarcastically and he walked from the room.[/I]  
  
***  
  
We followed Alex for about a week and got more and more confused! The only time he left his room properly it was to go to the Litvack building!'  
  
'Serena insisted we never approached him. The only problem was I've never really been very patient!'  
  
***  
  
[I]Serena walked back into the dorm, two Thai take-aways in her hands. 'I got the food Adam. Adam?'  
  
She walked fully into the room and saw it was empty. Her heart rate raised a few notches. Surely they couldn't have been found? They'd been so careful!  
  
The room was in perfect order, not a thing out of place. Except. a small white piece of paper was lying on Adam's bed. She walked swiftly forward, laying the food down on the near by table. She picked up the paper and began to read, her eyes growing larger and more panicked the more she read.  
  
'Crap!' she gasped as she ran dropped the note and ran from the room. The small white scrap of paper glided gracefully down to the carpet with the words;  
  
Serena, I can't wait any more. Gone to talk to Alex. Be back later. Don't worry. Adam  
  
Written on it in a messy hand.  
  
Serena felt like screaming in frustration or blowing something up as she pushed her way down the hideously crowded corridor. Why the hell did they make these damn corridors so small? And what was it about college people that they had to have huge parties and invite half the people on campus, even when their room was the size of a match box?! The corridor was for freaking walking along! Not for having a party!  
  
'Hey gorgeous,' leered a near by jock, reaching out his hand and grabbing her by the arm.  
  
'Get your hand off me!' she said glaring at him.  
  
'Oh come on sweet piece, surely a little thing like you is up for a good time!' he leered at her.  
  
She didn't even think, it was just reflex. Like a flash her hand connected with his face, causing him to stumble back. His hand dropped her arm and reached up to his face in anger. But Serena wasn't sticking around for more, she was off like a shot, well like a shot in a very crowded hall way!  
  
'You Bitch!' screamed the jock from behind her, pushing forwards after her.  
  
Oh great! Thought Serena, this is all I need! Here I am trying to do a good deed like save a world and reunite a family and what did she get? She got molested by a drunk jock. damn she hated those guys!  
  
'Yo! Come back slut!' the jock yelled after her.  
  
That was where Serena lost her temper, she turned round, raised her hand and sent him flying into a group of people.  
  
'What the hell do you think you're doing?' they yelled.  
  
'FIGHT!!!' screamed someone as Serena took off even further into the crowd.  
  
OK, thought Serena looking at the doors over the heads of the people in the crowd. 187. 188. 18- Why the hell do these people have it in for me? Can they not just go the same way as me! You know make way please, hot alien coming through off to save her best friend from a psycho human being controlled by an alien!! 'Aghhhh!' screamed Serena aloud. But the only answer she got was a few strange looks from the people around her.  
  
190.  
  
191.  
  
192!!!  
  
Serena almost leapt in the air for joy as she thrust her way through the crowd at Alex' door. Throwing her hand down she jerked the door handle urgently.  
  
Come on! Come on!! Just open!  
  
Locked? Aghh! What God did I upset today?  
  
She shot a look around her to see if anyone was looking. Then she shook herself, she was in a corridor stuffed full of what must be about 50 drunk college students, of course someone was looking! But Adam was in trouble, or at least making his way swiftly towards it so who gave a damn who saw what!  
  
Jamming her hand back down at the handle she concentrated until there was a sudden click. She jabbed forward into the room and threw the door closed behind her.  
  
'Adam!!' she screamed, looking at the scene in front of her.  
  
Adam was lying on the floor, blood pouring from a gash on his arm, standing just above him was Alex, knife in hand, poised for the last blow.  
  
'No!' screamed Serena as she ran at him, throwing him back from Adam, the knife grazed past her neck, shooting sharp pain through her. She collapsed down on the floor next to Adam's prostrate figure. 'Adam! Adam!' she whispered. 'Come on!'  
  
'Rena?' asked Adam in a voice barely more than a whisper. His eyes creeping open.  
  
'Are you Ok?'  
  
'Serena!' Adam shouted hoarsely, pointing behind her.  
  
Serena leapt up and swung round coming face to face with Alex.  
  
'Traitor!' she hissed.  
  
'No, not a traitor, a follower. Kivar's follower! He shall be King, worthless Royalist!' he screamed as he brought the knife plunging down.  
  
'Rena!' shouted Adam. A blinding white light filled the room and all went black.  
  
.  
  
Adam groaned and rolled over on his side, he winced, pain shooting through his arm. Where was he? What was going on?  
  
'Adam?' cried a voice.  
  
'Rena?' he asked hoarsely, straining to open his eyes. 'Where am -' he broke off, it all flooding back to him. His eyes shot open and he sat bolt up right. 'Whoa,' he gasped as the world began to spin around him.  
  
'Careful, careful!' said Serena, grabbing hold of him.  
  
'Alex!' said Adam desperately. Was he OK? was Serena OK? What had happened? He scanned the room looking for his brother. His eye's lit upon a bed, on it was laid a body. Alex' body. 'My God!' he gasped.  
  
'No! Adam it's OK! He's alive. just. He just barely breathing, I don't know what's wrong. But he's getting worse.' 


	22. Closet Memories

A/N: hey guys. Sorry I haven't added a chapter for such a long while life's been busy! This isn't my best work but I've been ill so It's the best I could manage I hope it's OK.  
  
Chapter 22  
  
Adam walked wearily across the room to where Serena sat. Her eyelids were heavy and her face grey.  
  
'Here,' he sighed, holding out a cup. 'Drink this, it'll make you feel better.'  
  
'Thanks,' she muttered, not meeting his eyes.  
  
How did she manage to do this? Why was it every time she tried to do something right it just blew up in her face? It just wasn't fair. All she had wanted to do was help Adam find his brother; and now she'd pretty much killed him! She must be cursed!  
  
'What can we try now?' asked Adam.  
  
'I don't know,' she said hopelessly.  
  
'There's gotta be something! Some alien power that can snap him out of this.'  
  
'There isn't! or if there is I don't have it.'  
  
'You have to do something!' said Adam incredulously.  
  
'You think I don't know that?' shouted Serena, her temper flaring. 'But what can I do? That blast knocked the power out of me. I can't even open a portal in the state I'm in, let alone try to heal him. I'm not a very good healer Adam, you know that! And even if I could heal him I still don't know whether he's being mind warped! He could try to kill us both again.'  
  
'But-' Adam stopped himself. She was right. Neither of them could do a damn thing. And he'd never even got a chance to talked to his brother properly, not even to explain!  
  
Serena reached out to feel for Alex' pulse for the one hundredth time that hour. She winced as she felt the cold skin beneath her fingers. This was bad, this was so bad!  
  
Adam reached across Serena, his arm grazing hers as he picked up Alex' limp hand. The last thing he heard before darkness covered him was Serena's scream.  
  
***  
  
Adam struggled to pull his eyes open. Man! What was going on with his head? it felt like someone was playing a drum solo on his forehead. He groaned in pain. What had happened? One minute he was sitting with Serena and then BAM! Here he was with an ear splitting headache. It must've been one hell of a party to give a hangover this bad. Maybe someone had spiked his coffee. or maybe they'd been found. By the FBI!! Adam sat bolt upright, shooting his eyes open.  
  
OK so this was weird. Adam tried to open his eyes again. Hmmm, looked like he'd lost all control of his eye lid muscles. He reached up a hand to do it manually.  
  
'OW!' he squeaked as he poked himself in the eye.  
  
Right so his eyes were open which left only one option. It was dark! So that was plausible. Perhaps he'd got drunk and passed out in the broom cupboard. In that case, getting up would be a good idea.  
  
Adam stood up slowly, trying to ignore the never ending drum concert in his head. He reached out his arms and felt around him for the walls. His hands swept through air, air and a little more air.  
  
Hmmmm, this was a pretty big cupboard, he thought as he began to walk, groping as he went. Suddenly out of nowhere there was a shot.  
  
'Hello? Anyone out there?'  
  
[I]'Well, it says right here that shots were fired but no one was injured.'  
  
'Then where's Liz?? I mean, why is she avoiding me?? Okay, first of all, Liz is never late right? She walks into homeroom today, and goes and sits next to Pam Troy. She like, hates Pam Troy and you know like, goes around admitting it openly...and...Alex are you listening to me??'  
  
'Yea, yea, Maria I'm listening to you. But this is just you being you. All right? Liz is fine, nothing happened it's all right here in black and white.'[/I]  
  
'Hello?!?' shouted Adam. 'Alex? That you?'  
  
[I]'Ok, all right. You are going to tell me exactly what has been going on with Max and Topolsky and the actual FBI or I swear, Liz, this is the end of you and me being friends.'  
  
'No Alex, don't say things...'  
  
'What? Something that I won't go through with? Liz, I'm not kidding. All right? Now either you tell me the truth, or I walk.'  
  
'Alex, I can't.'[/I]  
  
Adam stopped moving, his eyes frantically searching the darkness. What the heck was going on?  
  
[I]'It's amazing. You wanna know what? A couple weeks ago, if someone were to ask me who I would trust with my life other than my parents, I would have said you without skipping a beat. And now...now I feel like I don't even know who you are.'[/I]  
  
Adam froze completely as he heard Alex' voice. He trusted his parents that much? He was happy with his parents? What was he doing? All he was doing was destroying Alex' normal, happy life just so he'd have his little brother back! 'Hello? Please if someone's out there, just answer me!'  
  
[I]'I think that underneath that beautiful exterior is an even more beautiful interior. But I have a feeling that not too many people get to see that interior, do they?'[/I]  
  
Adam stapped his foot in frustration; where was he? What the hell was going on?  
  
[I]'Liz, what are you talking about?  
  
'God, there isn't any way for me to say this, but to just...but to just say this, ok? Look, Alex...they think they were in the 1947 crash. Ok, they were like in these incubation pods for a really long time...like 40 years, and they came out in like the form of humans...and now all of these people suspect them. That's why Topolsky's here, and that's why Valenti arrested us, and that's why we're here because he knows that I'm involved. I'm really sorry, Alex, but...you're involved, too.'[/I]  
  
Aliens? So he and Serena had been right. Alex was involved with aliens.  
  
[I]'Alex, I'm sorry. You know it's not you. It's just that with everything that's happening, everything on my mind, I can't think about being with a guy right now. You know, any guy.[/I]  
  
.  
  
[I]' I did a striptease in front of her mother! Are you listening to me?'  
  
'One nipple does not constitute a striptease, Alex.'  
  
'She saw my nipple? Oh, God.' [/I]  
  
Adam let out a small smirk as he continued to walk around. This was almost entertaining, almost.  
  
[I]' You're getting delirious, is that it?'  
  
'Nah, take...take a step away from your life, Kyle. You know, I mean, you're part of this...this amazing thing. This...amazing knowledge that you HAVE that 6 BILLION people on this planet don't. You really want to step out of this cave if it meant that you were gonna be another dumb jock?'[/I]  
  
Adam paused as he listened to this, somewhere deep down he felt this was important somewhere. That at sometime soon he should listen to his brother's wisdom.  
  
[I]'Alex, sweetie, can we talk to you a minute.'  
  
'Sure, Mom. What's up?'  
  
'Listen son, there's no easy way for us to say this. It's gonna be a shock and you'll probably hates us for it after wards but-'  
  
'Just remember that we love you and only want the best for you! And whatever you choose to do after this will be OK with us.'  
  
'OK, Mom, Dad, you're scaring me now!'  
  
'It's just that, well. You're not our natural child son. We adopted you.'  
  
'What?'[/I]  
  
Oh crap. Thought Adam. So it looked like his existence wasn't gonna be such big news to Alex as he'd thought. 'Alex? Come on answer me!'  
  
[I]'Hey! Liz, Ria wait up!'  
  
'Hey Alex. What's wrong?'  
  
'I just wanted to tell you guys something. I'm really messed up about it and I needed some help.'  
  
'Sure. Spill girlfriend!'  
  
'I spoke to my parents yesterday. And uhhh, well I'm ad-'[/i]  
  
Adam held his breath as silence once again filled the darkness.  
  
[I]'Hey Alex! You OK?'  
  
'Alex? Alex! You-hooo!'  
  
'Huh?'  
  
'You were half way through telling us something!'  
  
'Oh right, yeah.' Alex' voice took on a cheery tone. 'I'm going to Sweden!'  
  
'You're what?' gasped Liz' voice.  
  
'Exchange trip! Cool huh!'[/I]  
  
What the hell happened there? He was about to tell them he was adopted! Why didn't he?  
  
[I]'So Alex. What are you gonna do while you're at Las Cruces then?'  
  
'I'm going to translate the book for you, my queen.'  
  
'And what are you not going to do?'  
  
'I'm not going to talk to anyone about the book.'  
  
'Good boy.'[/I]  
  
Adam felt bile rising up in his throat. Who would talk to someone like that? Like they were just a dog? A toy! Something to be controlled!  
  
[I]'I'm gonna miss you girlfriend!' said a teary voice.  
  
'Hey, be happy Lizzie! I'll be back! Besides I'll be missing all the fun of the alien abyss. You know green jellyfish, clones, skin peeling psychopaths. Think of all the fun you'll be having without me![/I]  
  
It was weird. Adam could almost here another voice, just faintly. A whisper. Perhaps just the impression of a voice.  
  
'Please don't let me go.'  
  
[I]'So do my two best girls have a hug for me?'[/I]  
  
'I don't want to go!'  
  
[I]'Bring us back a couple of Swedish guys yeah Alex.'  
  
'Sure Ria.'  
  
'Just make sure these ones are pure, thoroughbred humans yeah. I don't think I could manage another spaceboy!'  
  
'I'll miss you Alex.'[/I]  
  
'Liz1 No! Make me stay! Surely you can tell this isn't me!'  
  
[I]'You too Liz. Come on girls! I'll miss my plane! Just one last little bit of sugar!'  
  
'Bring it on!'[/I]  
  
'No!'  
  
[I]'Bye Alex!'  
  
'Bye!!!'[/I]  
  
'NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!'  
  
Adam was flung back by the sheer force of the voice. He landed with a thud, his head slamming into the ground.  
  
***  
  
'Adam! Come on! Wake up! Wake up damn you!' screamed Serena, shaking his limp body. She felt like screaming in frustration, this wasn't happening. This so wasn't happening! One minute she had one brother unconscious and now both were! Just bam and there he was flat out on the floor! Unconscious! Not a movement, barely breathing, just like his brother. She was right! She was cursed!  
  
'Ow! Serena, quit it!'  
  
'You're alive!!! You're alive!' she screamed, yanking him away from the ground into her arms.  
  
'OW! Careful!'  
  
'You're alive! I didn't kill you! YES!'  
  
'Yeah but if you're not careful you will!'  
  
'What happened?' she whispered sobering slightly.  
  
'I think I went into his head.'  
  
'What? How?'  
  
'I don't know do I! You're the alien! You should!'  
  
'But I-'  
  
'You're my brother.'  
  
Adam swung his head sharply round, coming face to face with the person he'd been searching for for so long. Alex Whitman. 


	23. Traitor

'I ummmm,' What could he say? What should he say? He'd rehearsed it a thousand times but now it came to it what could he say to a brother he'd never met! Granted a brother whose head he had just visited but what could he do? This just wasn't what he'd expected!  
  
'What's going on? Where am I?' demanded Alex, taking his surroundings for the first time. He looked around himself. A strange room, strange smell and a strange girl. 'What's going on?' he repeated. 'Where am I?'  
  
'Las Cruses,' said the girl quietly. 'I'm Serena by the way.'  
  
'Ok,' replied Alex with raised eye brows. 'Hi Serena. Good to meet you. You got any idea what's going on?'  
  
'You've been mind warped.'  
  
'Mind warped? What the hell? Tess?' gasped Alex in confusion. What was going on. Who were these people? Who was Adam? How did he have a brother? How did he come to be in the exact same room as his brother? Who was Serena? And what about- 'Liz? Maria?' he asked in panic. 'Are they-?'  
  
'They're fine. They're back in Roswell with the others.'  
  
'We have to go back! To warn them what Tess is doing!' half shouted Alex. Isabel was back there, his Isabel. With Tess. Who knew what she was doing, if he even came near to laying a hand on Isabel or Liz or Maria he would kill her. Personally kill her.  
  
'No Alex!' replied Serena quickly. 'You can't go back, not yet. We have to find out what you were doing here, what the Tess person was making you do. It's the only way we can stop her.'  
  
'Why? Why can't we just go back there now?'  
  
'Because unless we work out what's going on she can just call us traitors and then mind warp our butts off the nearest cliff! And personally I'm not looking to die any time in the near future.'  
  
'Wait.' said Alex suddenly realizing something. 'How the heck do you know about mind warps?'  
  
'Oh,' said Serena. How confusing could this get? Two practiaclly identical people, she barely even knew which one she was talking to. And how on earth was she meant to explain everything that was going on? She barely even understood herself!  
  
'She's another alien Alex.' replied Adam. 'Looks like we're both being sucked into the alien abyss.'  
  
'Well there's one thing we have in common,' said Alex wryly. 'OK so while you tell me everything about what's going on we'll look for clues. I must have left something lying around for me to find- damn this could get confusing!'  
  
***  
  
Alex sat quietly while Serena and Adam tore up his room looking for something to help them understand what was going on. Their story was incredible, weird, scary. How could he not remember a thing? How could he have tried to kill his brother? How could he have just upped and left Roswell, just leaving Liz and Maria to the mercy of that mind warping cow? He shivered, what if she could gain control of his mind again. He didn't want to go back to that state. Not now, not when he'd found a brother he'd never known. Not now he knew the others were in danger.  
  
'I've found something!' yelped Serena triumphantly.  
  
Alex leapt up and across the room. 'What is it?'  
  
'An antarian book.'  
  
'A whaterian book?' asked Adam.  
  
'Anatarian, something from my home planet.'  
  
'Well? What does it say?' demanded Alex impatiently. The sooner they worked out what he was doing here, the sooner he could go home.  
  
'You are the royal four. You are created from the genetic materials of your alien predecessors and human subjects- What the hell is this?' questioned Serena, screwing up her face in thought.  
  
'What do you mean?' asked Adam.  
  
'It's junk, garbage! It's something you would read to your three year old. And who the hell is she?' Serena demanded pointing at a picture.  
  
'That's Tess!' gasped Alex. 'Ava, her alien name is Ava.'  
  
'Ava?' repeated Serena thoughtfully. 'Ava? I don't remember anyone called- AVARDA? How the hell did she get here? What the .'  
  
Alex turned to Adam as Serena raved on. 'You know anything about this?'  
  
'I don't think so but-'  
  
'Avarda? But she di- No.'  
  
'What?' asked Adam and Alex simultaneously.  
  
'I can't believe it! The scum!'  
  
'For goodness sake Serena! Spit it out!'  
  
'Huh?' she said his voice finally penetrating into her brain.  
  
'What's going on?'  
  
'We have a traitor among us.' 


	24. Death

Serena sighed as she slid down onto the bed. 'Eons ago Antar was ruled by a monarch. His name was Endar. The people loved him, he was a just and worthy king. And by his wife Valoncica he had two children. They were Zan and Vilandra. He also had a ward by the name of Rath. Rath was his sister's child and at her death he was accepted into the royal family. But, not by his wife he had another child. It was when he was very young, before he understood what it meant to be king, before he understood what could come of it. This child's name was Kivar.'  
  
'Kivar?' gasped Alex. 'But him- Issy- Vilandra.'  
  
Serena ignored him and went on. 'The three royal blood children grew up brave and noble. Zan, being heir to the throne was taught all his father had not been. He had intelligence with a heart to match. Vilandra was taught to be a princess, she distanced herself from all who she did not know, just like a princess should. And Rath grew up not heeding a word he was taught. Commonsense seemed to have alluded him, well except where it can to war. His military mind was unlike any ever seen on the planet. The three grew up to embrace their future lives, how ever little they may have wanted them really. Kivar however grew up to hate his family, his past. By right he was the heir to the throne, being the first born. But by custom he was worthless, a bastard. Not even worthy to be admitted into the most humbly respected circles. On his own planet he was an outcast. And so he left. A neighbouring planet took him in, it was there he met Avarda.  
  
'She wasn't corrupt by nature. It was the fault of her upbringing, just as his was. And they corrupted each other. As they grew older, they grew closer and by degrees could have been said to be in love. Or at least that was what it was on Ava's part, to Kivar it was just a matter of time, a way to bring down his family and claim his throne.'  
  
'Yeah but the other's were told Ava was engaged to be married to Max.' said Alex.  
  
'She was. It's confusing. Life was peaceful until the Prince had reached his 18th year. But then rumors began of an uprising against the king. The people began to panic, sides began to form. Royalists and revolutionaries. The only way the king could see to stop it was to secure a steadfast future for his children. He though that by betrothing Vilandra to Rath the people would be satisfied and believe they had another generation of royals yet to come. But it was not enough. The people became more and more restless so the King began to search for a woman for Max. Unfortunately his eye fell upon Ava. She was from an upper class family on her planet, quite suitable for Zan to marry. She had other plans though. She had been aware of Kivar's true status almost since she had met him and so they began to scheme. He would build up a large army and she would worm her way into the Royal's family circle. After a few months, against Zan's wishes, the betrothal was announced and the wedding preparations began.  
  
'It seemed this had made the planet happy. The rumors died down and people went back to their daily business. But there were three people who were very unhappy. For Vilandra and Rath, the very idea of being married to each other was disgusting. They had been almost brother and sister pretty much from birth. Any thing more was laughable. And for Zan this was the worst fate he could imagine. For with all his intelligence he had a strong heart. It was the fault of his mother, she had brought her children up on tales of soulmates and eternal loves. Zan held onto these, even after his mother's death. The idea of marrying someone who wasn't his soulmate, who he barely even liked was hell to him. But no matter how much he argued with his father, he had to go through with it, for the good of the people.'  
  
'But if everything wa sback to normal there then how did they end up here?' asked Adam. His head was swimming. He was never good at history at school, and here he was learning the history of a whole other world! And all those weird names were far too much to remember. Zan, Villarda, Path. oh Lord help him!  
  
'The night before the wedding Kivar's troops stormed the palace. No one knew how they got in, well not for a long while at least. It turns out our little friend Ava let them in though the back door. A nice wedding present to the future king. The troops were swarming the palace before Zan and the others even realised there was an army. The three royal children were murdered in their beds, as was the king. Kivar took the throne. The remaining royalists, like my grandfather, formed the rebel alliance. As for how they got here. My grandfather was in the palace that night, he saw the soldiers enter, he saw Ava's treachery and he acted as best he knew how. He took the three royal's essences, and gave them to one of the rebels. This rebel took the essences to a scientist where they were cloned and sent straight here to earth. My grandfather after giving away the essences of the children went to find the king. But he was too late, by the time he got there the king was already too far gone. He believed he had failed. He had no time to despair though, only senconds after he assertained the King was gone too far Ava entered the room. He gave his life to kill her. I know she died! There was a witness, my father's closest friend found her body dead. He did not realise then that she was a traitor he thought she had died trying to save the king. It was only later we discovered what had truly happen. I just don't know how she came to be here! No one took her essence! Unless-'  
  
'Unless what? What happened?' demanded Alex. He needed to know more. His head was dancing. Isabel had never loved Michael! Isabel had never even known Kivar! Isabel loved him! He wanted to know more, to have the full story. He wanted to learn uit by heart so he could run home and tell it to Issy. She wasn't responsible for their deaths. Sh could be guilt free. Vildandra had been a good person. Vilandra was a good person!  
  
'How could he have known what he was doing? He told me himself, she gave her life to save the king.'  
  
'Serena! Tell us!' demanded Adam.  
  
She looked up at them, her eyes filled with understanding. 'He did it, my grandfather's best friend. All he could see were two bodies in the king's chamber. Both killed by alien powers. How could he have known Ava was a traitor. To the people she was the King's beloved betrothed. He must have taken her essence and given it to the scientist. It was just another mix up in the chaos.'  
  
'A pretty damned annoying mix up! What if she's remembered what she did? What if she's trying to do it all again? What if that's why I'm here?' gasped Alex.  
  
'But the book, what about the book?'  
  
'Of course, it's what my grandfather's friend sent with them. He wouldn't have sent them with nothing to guide them. He sent this so they'd know who they are.'  
  
'But I though you said it was rubbish,' said Alex, clearly confused.  
  
'It is,' replied Serena. 'But he didn't know that did he? Very little was known about the royal's lives, they were kept under lock and key, hidden from the eyes of their subjects. Only certain things were released to the eyes of the world, the necessary stuff. The stuff the people wanted to hear. Like how Ava and Zan were deeply in love, as were Vilandra and Rath. That's what this book says.'  
  
Alex' eyes widened as things became clear to him. 'The orb! The destiny message.'  
  
'The what?' asked Adam.  
  
'The destiny message! About six months ago Liz and Max found an orb. It was part of a set of two. We got hold of the other one after a while. Max and Tess held one and Michael and Isabel the other and it gave them a message. It told them that they'd died in battle like you said. And that they were cloned and sent here. It said that Max had been sent with his bride and Isabel with her betrothed, Max' second in command.'  
  
'That must have been another message they sent with them. Like the book, only obviously little easier to read than that.' said Adam.  
  
'Wait, you said Zan's mother died.'  
  
'Yeah when he was about 14 years. Why?'  
  
'The message was from their mother.'  
  
Serena looked confused. ' I can't have been. There was no way they could have recreated her appearance in order to send it through an orb. An orb creates the speech inside the brain. It's like a telepathically transmitted message.'  
  
'But they saw it, all of them. Even Liz.'  
  
'That's not possible. You can't see an orb message, it's just not technologically possible. Especially when those orbs were made!'  
  
'Then what was it?' questioned Adam.  
  
'I don't know.' admitted Serena. 'When was it?'  
  
'About six months ago. Not long. Before the summer, why?'  
  
Adam turned to Serena in excitement. 'Serena! That must have been-'  
  
'The signal!' they said simultaneously.  
  
'The what?'  
  
'The signal. That wasn't an orb Alex. At least not an Anatarian one anyway. It was a signal.'  
  
'Ok. What?'  
  
'Simply, it was a very loud shout that went out to all your enemies and practically every other alien in this world that told them exactly where you were.'  
  
'But why did it have the message then?'  
  
'Mindwarp.' 


	25. Goodbye

'Well,' demanded Isabel as a scilence settled over the room. 'What happened then?' she said, fast becoming hysterical. 'Tell me!'  
  
'Isabel,' said Maria soothingly, taking her hand. She looked towards Adam. 'What did happen then?'  
  
Adam hesitated. 'It- It get's complicated.'  
  
'The whole thing's complicated.' muttered Michael.  
  
Liz sat quietly in the corner, her eyes red. Dried tears lay on her cheeks. Instinctively she raised her hand to pull the hair off her face. She took a shallow breath. 'So you made a translation of the book? Copied it into the super computer. Why?'  
  
Max shot a quick look at Liz. This situation was just so messed up! How had they got here? What sadistic force had the inhumanity to drag eight defenseless teenagers into a situation?  
  
'I translated the book for Alex,' replied Serena quietly, her voice weak with emotion. 'And then we copied it into the computer incase something happened to me and you needed another copy. That took a couple of weeks. We had to stay there until Alex' exchange time was over so we didn't cause suspisioun. And then-'  
  
'Yes,' said Kyle impatiently.  
  
Serena swallowed and blinked tears out of her eyes. 'Alex came back to Roswell and we stayed in Las Cruses. He was going to keep in touch. He was going to montior the situation for us, so we knew when to approach you all. But then he stoped,' her voice cracked slightly. 'He stopped contacting us.'  
  
Adam kept his eyes glued to his hands as he began to speak. 'We gave it a week then we knew something must be up. So we began to pack up to go back to Roswell.'  
  
'We didn't know anything bad had happened but it just didn't feel right. Alex had promised to keep in touch. We were within a mile of Roswell when we heard the news on the radio.'  
  
***  
  
You make my heart sing  
  
You make my heart sing  
  
You make my heart sing  
  
My baby, baby yeah  
  
You make my heart sing  
  
Girl you should be my girlfriend  
  
Girl you should be my girlfriend  
  
Girl you should be my girlfriend  
  
Girl you should be my girlfriend  
  
Girl you should be my girlfriend  
  
My girlfriend  
  
'That was Nsync with Grilfriend. And now for a news Report over to you Hannah.'  
  
'Thanks John. Our main story tonight is a sad one folks. Only a few minutes ago, just outside our little town of Roswell was a terrible crash. Now anyone who can get us information on what happened will be very useful! All we know as of yet is that it was head on collision between a car and a lorry. The car swerved into the oncoming lane. There has just been one casualty. A local boy, Alex Whitman.'  
  
Serena froze at the wheel. Her eyes wide open like a deer in head lights. 'Alex,' she gasped.  
  
Next to her Adam began to hyperventilate. 'Get off the road!' he shouted.  
  
'What?'  
  
'Get off the road! NOW!' he screamed at her. 


	26. Destiny

Serena shivered as silence crept over the car.  
  
'Get out,' whispered Adam.  
  
'What?' breathed Serena.  
  
'I said Get out.'  
  
'But-'  
  
'GET OUT!'  
  
Serena jumped and began to fumble with the door handle. She gasped as cold air hit her from outside, turning round she came face to face with Adam.  
  
'Adam I'm so-'  
  
'You promised me,' interrupted Adam deathly quiet. 'You promised me that he would be safe. You said we'd only be a few miles away. That Tess wouldn't even notice he'd broken out of the mind warp. You said he'd be Ok.'  
  
'Adam I-' tears of guilt began to well up in her eyes. 'I thought he would. He seemed fine. I-'  
  
'No! You lied to me! You promised me he'd be fine! You PROMISED me!'  
  
'Adam! I didn't know-'  
  
'Yeah? Well I bet it makes no difference to you now does it. I was always just here to help you find your aliens. Me and Alex, we were expendable. Just as long as you got your precious prophecy fulfilled! Just as long as you could look out for your family. Well what about my family? You just killed the last of my family. Murdered!'  
  
Tears rolled down Serena's face as the hateful words flew out of Adam's mouth. 'Adam you don't know! It could just have been an accident.'  
  
'Quit trying to redeem yourself! You and I both know it wasn't human. It was alien and it was all your fault. I'll never forgive you!'  
  
'Adam please.' Serena pleaded.  
  
'Just get lost! Go back to your precious planet. You'll live with the knowledge everyday that you killed the last person I had. Alex trusted you and now he's dead. And it's all your fault.' said Adam emphasizing the last phrase.  
  
'Adam-' whispered Serena as he turned away.  
  
'Just go to hell!'  
  
Serena sank into the dirt at the roadside as Adam started the car and sped off.  
  
***  
  
Serena blinked back tears as all the eyes in the room fell upon her. Adam gripped her hand even tighter. 'I- I, uh, after Adam left me I walked to the nearest motel and got a room. Later that night a portal opened in my room. It was my friend. She told me that my father's execution had been arranged for that night and that we only had a few hours where we could rescue him. So I went home.'  
  
Liz stared at her palms barely hearing Serena's words. Adam's accusations rang through her head. She could hear herself through Adam's words of hate. Hadn't they been practically the same ones she had said to Max in those last few weeks. But only now could she understand the hurt words like those could cause. She was a hypocrite. She went on and on at Max about the hurt he had cause when in reality hadn't she caused just as much maybe even more? She'd torn apart the lives of her closest friends and let someone else take the blame.  
  
Isabel sat frozen in her seat. Alex had been protecting her. Trying to look after her. He had loved her that much and she'd just scorned him. Flaunted Grant in front of him. God, what was she? No, who was she? She was Vilandra. No matter how hard she tried to hide from it she was and would always be Vilandra. She would still cause as much hurt as Vilandra had.  
  
'Excuse me,' she muttered getting up and walking quickly into Maria's bedroom.  
  
Adam watched her leave. So that was the woman who had stolen his brother's heart. His little brother had chosen well. His heart ached to see her in so much pain.  
  
Serena squeezed his hand and whispered in his ear. 'Go after her. She needs a friend.'  
  
***  
  
Adam took a deep breath and slowly pushed open the door. Isabel lay sprawled over the bed sobbing. He walked over quietly and sat next to her.  
  
'He really loved you, you know.'  
  
Isabel stopped crying and looked up at him.  
  
'You were all he would talk about, all he cared about. He was so scared something would happen to you if we didn't go back to Roswell straight away.' he noticed Isabel watching him and smiled slightly. 'Serena and I used to tease him about being obsessed, he just ignored us though.'  
  
'How did you cope?' asked Isabel quietly.  
  
Adam looked at her surprised. 'Cope?'  
  
'After he- you know.'  
  
'Oh,' Adam rose to his feet and walked to the window. 'I drove back to New York, that night. I was so angry. I think I beat up a load of street kids before falling asleep outside a shop. The next morning I woke up cold and hungry and figured I needed a plan. I started working in a supermarket and went to night school. After a few months I came back here. I wanted to find Serena, to say sorry. but she'd disappeared without a trace. She was just completely gone. So I went to Roswell, I found Maria and followed her around a lot. She seemed to spend half her time in a hospital I couldn't work out why. Then one day I followed her and Liz to the airport and saw them get on a plane for Sweden. I thought then I had to rethink my future so I enrolled again at Las Cruses. No one recognised me or anything. I just hung around campus for a while and then Liz and Ria arrived. I guess I just couldn't face up to telling them about Alex. I'd kind of pushed it to the back of my head, tried to ignore it. And the longer I left it the harder it was to even think about telling the truth. I just never got the chance!'  
  
'So you hid yourself away for two years.' whispered Isabel.  
  
Adam looked at her, puzzled.  
  
'I'm glad you came clean.' said Isabel looking up. 'Alex wouldn't have wanted you to hide like that.'  
  
'Nah.' replied Adam.  
  
'I'm glad he found you too. I'm glad we found you.'  
  
'Somewhere I know Alex is looking down on us thinking the same thing.'  
  
'Thank you.'  
  
'For what?'  
  
'For being you. For giving me Alex again.'  
  
Adam walked across the room and hugged her. 'He would have wanted it.' 


	27. A time to leave

'Did you get there in time?' asked Maria breaking the silence.  
  
Serena looked at her, confused.  
  
'To save your father.'  
  
'Oh,' Serena looked down at her lap. 'No, though two of our men died trying.'  
  
'I'm sorry,' murmured Max.  
  
'It's not your fault,' Serena replied.  
  
'Isn't it?'  
  
'No! You did everything you could to stop Kivar from coming to power, before. it wasn't your fault you were betrayed. My father didn't blame you for what happened. He blamed Kivar. He wouldn't have wanted you to blame yourself.'  
  
'Yeah well I should have seen what Ava was up to. I guess I haven't changed that much since my past life. I'm making the same mistakes again.'  
  
'But it's different this time!' said Serena passionately. 'This time you're all here! This time we can complete the prophecy!'  
  
'The what now?' demanded Isabel as she stepped into the room.  
  
'The prophecy.'  
  
***  
  
'So when were you planning on letting us in on all this?' demanded Michael. How could she do this? March in, gain their trust and then spring another destiny on them. She was just another Tess.  
  
'Now, I guess. It wasn't exactly planned out.' replied Serena hesitantly.  
  
'So what's it all about?' asked Kyle, interested.  
  
Serena glanced gratefully at him. 'Us. All of us.'  
  
'Us? Someone prophesied about me?' laughed Maria. 'Man! How popular do I feel- wait you're serious? Us?'  
  
'Great, another Destiny.' said Max.  
  
'No,' replied Serena. 'This one's for you to choose.'  
  
'Choose?'  
  
'It's your decision, you can follow this destiny or choose your own. It's up to you, each and every individual should make their own choice.'  
  
'I don't believe in destiny.'  
  
Serena looked thoughtfully up at Liz. 'Don't you? What about Soul mates? That's a sort of destiny. A soul that was split in two so that when it found it's other half nothing could separate them.'  
  
'Yeah well I don't believe in soul mates either,' Liz replied. 'Not any more,' she added as an after thought.  
  
'Why didn't you tell me?' asked Adam looking at Serena with hurt in his eyes. 'I followed you around for almost two years, why didn't you tell me then?'  
  
'Because I didn't know it was you! The only person I knew for certain was included in the prophecy other than me was. it was you Liz.'  
  
'Liz?' gasped Maria. 'How- Why- But you'd never seen her before!'  
  
'Yes I had,' replied Serena.  
  
***  
  
[I] Serena looked in disgust at the outside of a UFO museum. 'Humans can be so freaking dumb!' she spat. 'Oh, sorry, no offense.' she added blushing.  
  
Adam grinned at her, 'Well I like to think some of us are better than others, after all this planet can't be completely devoid of intelligent life right?'  
  
'No of course not!' replied Serena. 'Not while you've still got mice!'  
  
'Awww gee thanks! I'm eternally wounded!' said Adam mocking hurt. 'Come on, let's go see what sick food they sell in this freak hole!' he added pointing towards the Crashdown.  
  
'Yeah why not, perhaps the mice think up the menu!' she laughed and began to drag him towards the door. Suddenly she stopped dead in her tracks.  
  
'Owww! What was that for?' demanded Adam, rubbing his head where it had just hit Serena's.  
  
But Serena wasn't listening. Heck she probably didn't even know he was talking. She was just staring straight ahead of her towards a small group of people about their age.  
  
'Oh my God!' said Adam his jaw dropping  
  
'It's her! She's the one!' said Serena excitedly. 'She has the strongest mark I've ever seen!'  
  
Serena's heart leapt. This petite brown haired girl had to be one of them. She had the mark of Antar, and a mark that strong could only have been made by the King himself.[/I]  
  
***  
  
'I saw you then. And I knew it was you.' Serena said looking directly at Liz. Liz held her gaze steadily for a moment but then looked away. 'Antarians believe in soul mates. They believe that when you find your soul mate you're changed, not a physical change as such but it shows. I suppose in a way it's like your beliefs about Auras only for us it's the mark of Antar. On most it's only a faint mark that only people who have studied the markings can read but on you Liz it's strong, so strong. I've never studied how the markings work, I know only what my father used to tell me but yours is clear as day. Blinding.'  
  
'I don't believe in soul mates,' said Liz in her most emotionless voice.  
  
Inside Liz was screaming. Why couldn't she escape? Everything about her bound her to Max. On this planet, on Antar. Everywhere! She just wanted to run and hide, leave the memories behind but she couldn't, no matter what she did they would always be there to haunt her. Her soul which was tormented was the very thing that had attracted this torment. Why did she have to hare half her soul with max? Why not with Kyle? Or Hitler? She couldn't live with her soul as it was but just as equally, she couldn't live without it.  
  
Max watched Liz out of the corner of his eye sadly. He had brought her to this. Before he'd known her she had been innocent, free from care but that innocence was gone now, replaced with pain and anger. And he couldn't turn her back.  
  
Maria swallowed and looked away from Liz. It hurt her to see her best friend like this. Liz could help herself so easily, she could be free if she would just admit to the world, to herself that she loved Max, she always had done and always would do.  
  
'A soul can't be at peace without its other part can it?' she said to Serena. it was more of a statement than a question. She already knew the answer deep down. She'd lived without Michael for almost two years, she knew the pain a soul could feel.  
  
Serena shook her head, 'No. It can live in relative peace before seeing it's other half but to be made whole and then ripped in half again. It can never be the same again.'  
  
Max absorbed her words slowly. [I]To be made whole and then ripped in half again.[/I] Yes that had been his doing. It had been him that made the first move and it had been him who had initiated the final separation And then he had plunged himself back into her life again sending their souls back into turmoil.  
  
'Please,' said Isabel quietly. 'Will you tell me the prophecy?'  
  
Serena smiled at her. Her voice to on a melodious, abnormal quality as she started.  
  
'Into a land swept with evil eight figures of hope will enter. Four will be home, four will be lost but all shall be good. The people will rise up with them against the evil and freedom shall once again reign. But there shall be deaths, many deaths for the freedom. The freedom shall rely on one person, a person known to the people as a warrior.'  
  
'That's it?' asked Kyle when Serena finished. 'That's a destiny?'  
  
'No, there was just a little more. Words no-one really knew the meaning of. Hajhra rian'ith ipashla kyliha y t'apthai hydicea.'  
  
'What does it mean?' asked Isabel savoring the words.  
  
'Pain, suffering, death but a second chance, a freedom. Many said it was just the prophet describing the war, others that it showed the kindness of the coming, the mercy they would should on the followers of the evil but most say it holds a secret meaning that will only be made known to the one it speaks of.'  
  
The room fell silent. What should they do? Destiny? Or a life of freedom?  
  
Isabel was the first to speak. 'I want to do it. I've seen the suffering of the people on my planet. They all have faith that we'll be back to save them. I don't want to leave them there to die.'  
  
'I'm in too,' said Adam finally. 'There's nothing left here for me on this planet. I may as well try my luck on another one. Alex would have done it.'  
  
'You're right.' said Maria. 'Alex would have done it and I'm pretty sure of what my Spaceboy's answer will be. Besides it won't take that long, I can always come back and visit my Mom for Christmas.'  
  
'Yeah well if Pixie's going I suppose I'm gonna have to be there to stop her doing anything stupid,' sighed Michael. 'OW!' he yelped as Maria threw a cushion at him.  
  
Kyle hesitated. He had a good life here. His dad was here, he had friends at college. Was it worth throwing it away just to go off to another planet? He raised his eyes and met Serena's deep dark pools. It was stupid to question it, he already knew his answer. he'd run away once before and look what that had done to his friends. 'I guess I'm along for the ride too. It's not like you guys can survive without me anyway.'  
  
'Yeah, keep dreaming Valenti,' scoffed Maria.  
  
Serena flashed Kyle a shy smile then turned to look at Max and Liz. 'Liz? Max?'  
  
Max just nodded. it was obvious what his answer was. He had a debt to repay to that planet. The people there had given him a second chance in hope he would come back and help them, it just wasn't him to abandon them. It just wasn't and option. He could at least do this one thing right.  
  
Liz looked round at her 'friends'. So they were all going. Forgetting all the hurt and pain and going back to get it again. They were mad, stupid. right?  
  
'Come on Liz!' said a niggling voice in the back of her head.  
  
She thought back to her earlier meeting with Alex. What was it he'd said?  
  
'Liz you have to step out from behind the tree, show your true self! The person you're pretending to be isn't the Elizabeth Parker I know!'  
  
Who was Liz Parker? She was the person who would make the right choice in this situation. She had two choices now, the right one or the wrong one. Liz Parker or pain. Which one should she choose? Which would could she choose?  
  
All the eyes of the room were on her as she raised her head.  
  
'Like I said before. I don't believe in Destiny.' 


	28. Farewell

Author's note: I know, I know, it's been like a year. I just haven't been able to motivate myself to write for that long. BUT I have finally made my start towards the end of this story. I want to finish it. It deserves an end. Plus I discovered that \I had some chapters on my comp that weren't put up here. So I'm slowly gonna try and finish this fic. Reviews are what make me want to write (that's not really bribery, just truth) So if you want more, please do let me know, otherwise this story may never get its end.

This chapter is dedicated to kt(Â ) for giving me the kick up that backside I needed to write more. I hope you're still out there and will read the end :)

Chapter 28

The group watched in disbelief as Liz stood up from her seat and calmly walked to the door.

'Where are you going?' demanded Michael.

'Out,' replied Liz defiantly as she shut the door behind her.

'Liz,' sighed Maria under her breath.

Isabel watched the closed door awkwardly she left like she should do something. She might be hurting underneath but so was Liz.. She must be able to help in some way! 'Some one ought to follow her.' she stated quietly.

Max opened his mouth to speak but was cut off my Maria. 'I'll go. You guys plan what happens next. I'll be back soon.' Quickly Maria walked to the door.

Liz walked slowly away from the door. her heart thumping in her chest. Right choice or wrong choice. Liz Parker or pain. It looked like she'd made her choice then. The wrong one.

She could go back, just turn around right now. Go back in and tell them she'd go too. Tell them she wanted to be a part of the team again. Tell them she wanted to be Liz Parker again. It would be so easy. All she had to do was turn round and take those few short steps back into the apartment. They'd all be there waiting for her, they'd welcome her back just like they'd done to Adam. They wouldn't judge her. She could be Liz Parker again.

She almost did it. Almost turned that 180º that would lead her straight back to the door but something stopped her. Her ears rang once again with the sound of the departing Granolith, her throat once again filled with the screams she had thrown heedlessly at the solid, impenetrable rock and she saw again Tess' ice blue eyes that had haunted her mind ever since Alex' funeral. Of course she couldn't go back to them. Tess was there. Tess would always be there, lurking in every unspoken sentence, every unuttered word. The shadow in everyone's eyes. And Liz couldn't take it, she had to escape it, escape everything!

'Chica!' called Maria after her.

Liz turned round slowly, tears lingering in her eyes.

'Please,' whispered Maria. 'Please just tell me what's wrong. Tell me what it's like for you. Just… Just tell me.'

'I can't,' choked Liz.

'Please,' begged Maria, tears forming in her own eyes. 'I just want to be able to help you. I want you back Liz. I want my best friend back.'

'I can't go on any more Maria,' cried Liz collapsing down against a wall. 'I can't face him any more, knowing what I've lost. What we screwed up. I just want to leave, forget the whole thing!'

'I'll help you! We can do it together.' pleaded Maria, kneeling down in front of Liz. 'Just please, don't leave me to do this alone.'

'I can't,' whispered Liz, hopelessly.

'Please don't do this Liz.'

'No,' said Liz quietly. She raised her hand and brushed away the tears. 'I'm gonna take a trip back to Roswell tomorrow for a couple of days. I need some space, that's all. You've got Michael, and I promise I'll be here waiting for you when you get back. I can't go, I can't take any more of this.'

Maria nodded slowly. It was pointless to argue, Liz had always been stubborn. Perhaps what she was doing was right. She wouldn't be able to cope around Max. Maria could see how it was destroying her these past few days. But she didn't want to do this without her best friend. A new planet, new people, new challenges. She'd faced every challenge through her life with Liz by her side. She just couldn't do it alone. 'Will you come back in time to say goodbye?'

'Ok.'

'Promise,' demanded Maria.

Liz smiled slightly. 'I promise, Maria. You'll be careful? I don't want to lose you.'

'You're not getting rid of me just yet Parker!' laughed Maria slightly. She stood up, brushing the back of her skirt with her hands. 'You want to come back in?' she asked, holding out her hand to help Liz up. her eyes pleaded with Liz, asking one more time for the impossible.

'No,' said Liz, shaking her head. 'You go. I'll come back later. I'll go phone Mom and Dad and tell them I'm coming.'

'Ok,' replied Maria turning away.

'Maria.'

'Yeah.'

'Thank you.'

'I love you girl friend!'

'I love you too,' replied Liz running towards her and engulfing her in a hug.

Everyone looked up at Maria as she walked back into the room. Max watched her through sad eyes.

'Well?' asked Michael.

'She'll be here waiting for us when we come back.'

Serena looked wistful. 'When we come back?' she whispered.

'Huh?' asked Adam.

'Nothing,' she replied quickly, not looking him in the eye.

'So what's the plan?' asked Maria.

'Well…' replied Kyle sheepishly.

'Great!' she replied sarcastically. 'This looks SO hopeful.'

'Thank you Liz,' said Isabel as she pulled Liz into a hug. 'For what you said to me when I got back. For believing in me even when I did everything possible to make you hate me. Thank you for giving me Alex.'

'I'll miss you Issy,' replied Liz quietly.

'I'll miss you too Liz Parker,' murmured Isabel as she walked away.

'I'm sorry I took your journal, Liz,' said a small voice from behind her.

Liz swung round into Adam's arms. 'Just as long as you didn't read too much,' she said with a slight smile.

'Nah, I felt too guilty after reading the first page… did you really die?'

'It's a long story,' said Liz quietly. 'Someone'll tell you one day.'

'I'll hold you to that,' he said smiling.

'You do realise that if you ever tell anyone what you saw in there I'll have to kill you.'

'Don't worry I'll let some evil aliens do that for you.' he replied with a grin.

'Good luck.'

'I'll miss you Lizziebear!' he cried as he smothered her once again in a hug. 'But you're coming back to wave us all off right?'

'Yeah.'

Michael walked forward awkwardly. 'Uh yeah, so I'll see you around Parker,' he said, scratching behind his ear.

'Bye Michael. Take care of Maria for me right?'

'You're only gonna be gone two days.'

'Yeah, I guess,' replied Liz, turning away.

'Sorry for barging into your life Liz,' said Serena shyly.

'It's Ok. I thought you'd show up at sometime.'

'Huh?' replied Serena in confusion.

'It's another long, long story. I hope you manage to free your planet.'

'Thanks.'

'Why all the long goodbyes Parker?' asked Kyle grinning at her. 'You'll be back in a few days and it's not like you'll never see us again!'

'I know,' she replied as she walked into his out-stretched arms. 'It's just seems right somehow.'

'I'll miss you.'

'You too Kyle.'

'Say hey to my dad for me right.'

'Sure. And I'll tell him you've met the girl of your dreams and just so long as you don't stuff it up too bad he'll have a daughter sometime soon.'

'Don't count your chickens just yet.'

'Don't let Serena get away though will you?'

'Not if I can help it. I lost you. I'm not gonna miss out again!'

Liz watched sadly as Kyle walked away from her. All this just seemed so final. She'd be back in a few days but it just didn't feel like it. This felt like an ending. It felt like a goodbye forever.

'So you'll be here waiting when we get back right?'

'I promised Maria.'

'Just checking cos one thing that's gonna be missing on that planet is a girlfriend and some Rocky-road ice cream.'

'I'll have it defrosting in the freezer for you.' replied Liz. She looked at her best friend hesitantly, tears threatening to enter her eyes.

'Oh don't get all weepy on me. You'll be here in a couple of days, leave the real sad stuff for then! Come on, gimmie some of that sugar!'

Liz held Maria close not wanting to let go. Part of her didn't want to walk away now. It wanted to stay to finish what had been started, to complete her destiny. But her mind was ignoring that part, it was time she skipped town. She needed space and without it she'd go crazy. But Maria… Maria was a part of what she wanted to take with her. Maria was her rock, her stronghold where everything else was chaos.

'Don't go having too much fun without me,' she said sadly.

'Chica nothing will be fun without you.. well except for-'

'Yeah, Ria I really don't need to hear what goes on between you and Spaceboy behind closed doors!'

'Point taken. I'll miss you.'

'I'll be back in two days.'

'I'll still miss you.'

'I know, me too.'

'I love you chica.'

'I love you too.'

Liz reluctantly let go of Maria's hand and watched her retreat back into Michael's arms. 'Well… I guess I ought to, uhh, I ought to go.' She picked up her bags and started towards the door.

'Liz.'

Max. Liz swung round and found herself looking straight into his deep eyes. What she saw there broke her heart, almost. She even considered staying for a second. Trying to get things back to where they once were. But then her mind took control and froze out her heart. And Tess' words filled her ears;

I' And Max? Aren't you forgetting him? Can't have loved you that much if he would just sleep with me and then leave you on your godforsaken little planet to die! Can he? Hmmm… Did it hurt you? Did it make you squirm to think of him and me together, sharing what you never shared? It was a good night, that first night with Max, of course you wouldn't know, he never did that with you! Perhaps it was just because he didn't love you enough!'/I

'Liz I-' Max started

'Goodbye Max.'

He sighed looking defeated. 'Goodbye Liz. Please- Please could you just tell our parents that we're Ok and that we love them and could you give them this.' he asked, handing over an envelope containing a letter and a video.

Liz nodded without expression and picked up her bags. 'I guess I'll see you guys in a couple of days then.'

'Bye Liz,' called Maria as Liz walked through the door.

A silence fell over the room as the sound of the taxi died away.

'I suppose we ought to get on with the plan then,' said Adam finally.

Isabel watched her brother with clouded eyes as he sat down dejectedly. 'Tell us about Kivar's palace Serena. We need a weakness.'

'There is one,' she replied. Sitting down opposite him. 'My Grandfather found it…'

Liz sank back into the seat of the taxi, emotionally and physically exhausted. She hadn't thought it would be that hard, saying goodbye to all of them. Even Max had been nearly impossible. It scared her, it was almost as though her resolve was breaking. She was letting people in no matter how much her head told her not to. And since when did Liz Parker not listen to her head?

She didn't know if she could do it again. Saying goodbye this time had been hard enough but next time, next time there would be a chance they wouldn't be coming back to her. There was a chance she'd never see Maria or Kyle again. How could she say goodbye to them knowing that there was nothing in her power that she could do to keep them safe. And Serena and Adam, She'd only known Serena for a few days but it already hurt to say goodbye. Just another sign that she was letting her heart take control. She had to stop it. Following her heart only led her to trouble, only led her to pain.

She'd never thought she'd come to a day when saying goodbye to Michael and Isabel would be so hard. She'd always got the feeling that they both disliked her before. But now they seemed just as close to her as Maria or even Kyle.

And Max? What was it like saying goodbye to him?

Liz shook herself trying to rid herself of all the thoughts that plagued her. It was no good dwelling on how hard it had been, there was harder to come but for a few days she had freedom. She was going home. Home to the place she loved. Loved? She had loved it but now didn't it just hold memories she didn't want to remember. Wouldn't the drive home take her straight past that large rock in the desert that had been the centre of her hell. So many times she'd fled from it, her world crashing down around her. This time she wasn't running from it though. This time she was running towards it. Towards the pain it caused her. But there was nothing there now of course. Just dead rock. Rock that had been dead now ever since that day when- No she wouldn't think about it.

Liz closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, throwing all the painful thoughts out of her head. She was free for two days and she was going to make the most of it. She was going to live for 48 hours.

'So you're off to alien central then?' said the driver.

Liz smiled, keeping her eyes closed. 'Yeah, I'm going to Roswell. I'm going home… Ihome/I.' She smiled again at the thought.

'Are you indeed,' said the voice.

'Yeah.' She opened her eyes and looked up to the mirror seeking the drivers. 'So how about you. Where you fro-'

Liz froze, bile rising up into her throat.

'Hello Liz.'

She shot out her hand. Shaking she fumbled in panic with the door. it was locked, she couldn't open it. She was trapped in a car with Ihim/I. She turned her horrified face back to the mirror.

'Oh God,' she whispered hysterically.

'Yes Leandra, oh God!' said Kivar as Liz' whole world went black.

8


	29. Pizza and painkillers

A/N: thank you so much for the reviews everyone. I'm so pleased there are still people out there who can be bothered to see how this turns out. I'm gonna keep on posting here and writing for as long as I think someone actually wants to see it. x

Chapter 29

'So that's agreed? We go straight in and get him and get out?'

Isabel nodded half heartedly. Planning someone's death like this just didn't seem right. It didn't make any difference that he'd done it to them in their past lives. They weren't him! This wasn't them. Killing someone had always ended up getting them in trouble and it never got any easier as time went on. Killing people just wasn't the right way to go!

'I say we take a break,' said Serena looking up and noticing Isabel's weariness. 'We need food and a break.'

'But-' complained Michael.

'No,' interrupted Max. 'She's right. We're not gonna get any further without a break.'

'I'm gonna get some food,' said Maria, standing up. Her eyes were still puffy from the tears she'd let fall on Liz' departure. 'What do people want?'

'Pizza…' said Kyle thoughtfully.

Michael shot him a surprised glance.

'What!' exclaimed Kyle. 'You don't think I was attempting to understand those confusing plans do you? No, pizza is much more important!'

Maria smiled weakly. 'So pizza it is. I'll go get it,' anything to get away for a while. 'Anyone want to come?'

'Sure, I will,' said Serena.

Kyle glanced at Serena, 'Yeah I will too.'

'I'll stay here and baby-sit the aliens!' added Adam, grinning.

'Baby-sit! Who said anything-'

'Come on,' said Maria dragging Kyle and Serena towards the door. 'See you in about half an hour, OK?'

''Err, Maria.'

'Yeah.'

'Do you have any painkillers?'

'Ummm yeah I think so… Yeah, sure Isabel. In Liz's room on her desk I think.'

'Thanks.'

'See you later,' said Maria, casting a last concerned glance at Isabel as she walked out of the apartment.

Isabel ran her fingers through her hair, pausing her hand for a minute on her forward where it left a trail of welcome cool. She closed Liz' door slowly behind her, thankful for the space.

Her head was pounding. She wasn't used to this much pressure. And being stuck inside this damn apartment didn't help much either! She just wanted out, just time to herself. Liz was lucky to be able to get away. I mean sure, she'd agreed to this whole destiny thing but destiny didn't have to be suffocating! Or maybe it did. Cos hadn't it been suffocating every single time she'd experienced it. There was never any room to breathe, to be alone because in destiny you were always tied to someone. Sealed together with an unbreakable bond. A bond that would just never go.

She let her eyes flit over Liz' death in search of the small pills.

She hadn't made a bad decision by staying, or at least she didn't think she had. It was just so… so wrong to be plotting someone's death. So intense, so… suffocating! It was like they were stuck in this downwards spiral now and there was no way out. Now that they destiny had been started, there was no way to stop it. But this didn't feel like a good kind of destiny, if there even was one. What good could come of death? Of war? And what good could come of the group being split? Nothing, no good.

As Isabel reached down to inspect yet another pill bottle a flutter of white caught her eye. Looking straight at it she saw Liz' small journal lying open on her bed.

_ I 'Las Cruses University, October 2nd 2003,_

_Falling… Have you ever felt that feeling. The one where you're falling, your world has no bottom, you feel sick, but there's no way to stop it, no way at all. You just have to fall until you hit the bottom. But you don't know where the bottom is and you don't know if you'll keep hold of yourself long enough to get there. All you know is that you're scared out of your mind._

_I caused my fall. I caused this black hole which is slowly sucking in everything that matters to me and even everything that doesn't. It started with just us but in the end it's gonna have sucked in everything and there will be nothing left._

_The physics behind why a black hole comes into being are so extensive, so hard to understand. But this black hole, this one's just so simple, so unbelievably simple. Why did it start? Because I played God. Because I played with time. Because Max and I though we knew best. Because we made a choice that wasn't ours to make._

_When I was younger I always used to wonder why on earth Superman's parents forbade him to change time. Surely he could do some much more if he could adjust time just by a few minutes every time things went wrong. He could prevent those disasters so much easier if he did. He could save so many more lives. But now I understand, now I see. _

_If we were meant to be able to change the world we'd have all been built with a built in time machine, a personal, easy access Granolith. But we weren't, and why do you think that might be? Because our simple brains cannot comprehend the consequences of out actions. Just as a child cannot foresee that touching that flame will end in pain we cannot foresee that changing time, however well intentioned, will wreck lives and stop things happening that were meant to happen._

_Future Max though he was helping the world by coming back to me. I thought I was making the greatest sacrifice be giving up Max. But we weren't doing anything like that._

_We didn't stop the world from ending, we just postponed it for a few more years. Because in the end everything will finish. And isn't it better that the world runs through its natural cause and things happen the way they were meant to than that we play with them and things go wrong._

_I understand time now. I understand how fragile it is. If time runs in lines then future Max and I dented this line. Never again can it flow right, never again can things run to the perfect way they were supposed to. Because of us, because of me._

_We played with time and what happened? Alex died, Max got Tess pregnant, I almost died, Maria lost her dreams, Isabel never found her parents, Adam lost his brother, Serena lost her father, and Michael never found his family. Even our parents lives were destroyed by my actions. They didn't even know about the aliens, they didn't know what they were involved with. They were just innocent casualties in this insane accident._

_Now I understand that time's not there to be played with. Time is sacred. Future Max told me I was changing the future. He didn't know how wrong he was. I wasn't changing the future. I was destroying it._

_And it's too late now… It's just far too late.' /I _


	30. Surprise

Liz groaned and rolled over. Man, her head hurt. What had she been doing last night? Drinking Vodka shot with beer and a little Cognac on the side? She was surprised her parents would let her do that. It must have been one hell of a welcome home party, she just wished she could remember it.

She brought her hand up and brushed some hair off her face, keeping her eyes closed. She wanted to prolong this sleep as much as possible. Opening her eyes meant light and, in this state, light most definitely meant pain.

She was hungry though. She felt like she hadn't eaten for a week. She always felt hungry when she woke up at home. At Uni. she could manage but here where the sent of scrambled eggs and bacon would drift up to her from the Crashdown she could never resist food. The scent would fill her senses and then drive her out of bed, pulling her down towards the grill. And there she could have what ever she wanted; eggs, bacon, t-

Suddenly Liz froze, her thoughts grinding to an abrupt halt. She sat still for a second and then inhaled again, checking for what she desperately hoped would be there. But there was nothing. Not a whiff of the bacon she had been thinking about and definitely no egg.

A shiver ran through her entire body as everything came flooding back to her. Suddenly she knew why she couldn't remember any party. Why she couldn't smell the bacon. And why it was that she knew for a certainty that she was not alone.

'It just feels weird,' sighed Maria for the fifth time as she slumped down onto the stool at the bar of the pizza restaurant.

Kyle nodded absentmindedly, his thoughts focused on the steaming pizza that was being pulled out of the oven. Drool was practically hanging from his mouth.

'She'll be back soon though,' replied Serena.

'Yeah but by then we'll be,' Maria lowered her voice to a whisper. 'Off up north.'

Serena raised an eyebrow at Maria. 'Riiight. Besides she'll get some space and clear her head!'

'Yeah I know,' sighed Maria again, slouching further into the stool. 'It just-'

'Feels weird! I know!' said Serena with a slight smile.

Maria flashed her a very half hearted smile. 'It's just that for the last two years we've been all each other has had. We even went on holiday together and now it feels like… like I'm losing her.'

Kyle dragged his eyes away from yet another glistening hot pizza to stare at her indignantly. 'Hey! What about me! I've been around.'

Maria just looked at him.

'OK so maybe not all the time but I was always gonna be there if you needed anything!'

'Yeah I guess. It just fells-'

'We know!' interrupted Kyle and Serena.

'Good morning Liz.'

Liz lay still. She knew the voice, she'd know it anywhere. But should she move or should she just pretend to be asleep until it all went away.

'I know you're awake.'

She kept her eyes closed, perhaps he was bluffing.

'No Liz I really do know you're awake.'

Liz swallowed. It was obvious this wasn't working. It didn't look like he was going anywhere fast so her only other option was…

Liz pulled her eyes open, her stomach clenching in fear.

'Ah so you've seen reason.'

She felt bile rising in her throat as her eyes locked with his. 'Kivar,' she said evenly. She pulled the sheets further around her, feeling naked under his probing eyes.

'Good morning my queen.'

Liz choked slightly. 'Queen?'

Kivar smiled a satisfied smile. 'I thought you'd be surprised. You always underestimated yourself, you were born to be a leader Liz. You have the right temperament, the right attitude. Such a shame that Zan could never see it.'

'What do you want with me?' said Liz her voice wavering slightly.

'All in good time. First you must get dressed, there will be much more time for bedroom talks in the future.'

Liz shrank further into the bed as she caught his meaning. She felt defiled, naked.

'I suppose you would like to be left alone to change,' said Kivar longingly. 'Or I could help..'

Once again Liz felt like she was about to be sick. 'No.' she said hurriedly.

Kivar just smiled down at her. 'Ah well, soon.' He turned to leave but at the door he turned back. 'Oh and Liz. There's no point in getting ideas about escaping. Your powers are useless here.'

Tears began to roll down Liz' face as the door closed. She brought her legs up to her chest and began to sob.

'You really think we can do this?' said Michael.

'I don't know,' replied Max honestly as he turned away.

'I don't want to go back there.'

Max turned to look at Michael. He saw the fear in his best friend's eyes. It was the fear that he found when he thought of the white room. He didn't know what they had done to Michael while they were on Antar but he could see the effects. For a while they had broken his spirit completely, not even thoughts of Maria could drive him on.

He'd learnt something about Michael while they were on Antar. He was a free spirit, like a bird. Perhaps that was where his artistic talents came from. But caging him had almost destroyed him. He couldn't take it. It had broken him down. That was why he didn't want to go back. He didn't want to be caged again because to all three of them all Antar could ever be for them was a cage. A cage which they had been tricked to enter and no could not escape.

'He's right Max, I don't want to go either,' said Isabel as she walked out of Liz' room. Her eyes were red, she looked like she'd been crying. 'But we have to. We were born to this, it's because of us that all those people are suffering, we have to save them.'

Michael looked at her, his face softening a bit. He slumped down into a chair. 'I know I just… I just don't like dragging the other's into this.'

'We're all already in this!' said Adam. All the others turned to him in surprise, they had forgotten he was even there. 'We've been in this since the beginning. This is just our ditch attempt at getting out!'


	31. Trouble

A/N: thanks for all your feedback guys. I still love to hear what you think. x

Liz stood in the corner of her great room. She was wearing her old clothes. She hadn't even been able to make herself touch the rich antarian clothes in the wardrobe. They all symbolized what Kivar wanted her to become. They were all clothes for a queen, he wanted her to become his Queen.

She just didn't understand why. Why her? Surely it should have been Isabel. Why not Isabel? Liz stopped, scolding herself for wishing this fate on anyone.

With shaking hands she smoothed the front of her shirt in an effort to regain some normality. She'd barely even been able to make herself get dressed. She was so scared. But she couldn't let him see it. If she let him see it them he'd know that he could break her so easily. She had to be strong. Besides the others would notice she was missing sooner or later and come and get her, right?

But would they notice she was gone? Would they care?

Liz felt like slapping herself. She was getting hysterical. Of course they would care if she was gone even if they didn't perhaps know where she was…

Liz shot her eyes up as the door opened. Once again she met with the ice cold gaze of her enemy.

'Not wearing your nice new clothes? Perhaps I should have stayed to dress you. Perhaps we could do that now…' said Kivar his eye shining with desire.

Liz wanted to scream, she wanted to break down and cry. To crawl into a small ball and hide from the world. But she couldn't. She mustn't. 'What do you want from me?' Her voice quavering slightly.

Kivar leered at her. 'Ahhh the intelligent little Liz Parker isn't quite as clever as she's renowned to be.' He took a step closer to her, 'I want you to be my wife, to have my children, to be my queen.'

She swallowed again, trying to look defiant. 'Why? Why me?'

Kivar raised one eyebrow. 'You mean to say you don't know? This does add a new turn on things. Could it be that Larek's child doesn't know. Surely not. Perhaps she was stupid enough to believe that it would be possible without you…'

Liz hugged her arms closer around her figure, his ramblings just making her more nervous. She hadn't been told? Told about what? Why her?

Suddenly he looked back up at her. 'So you do not know. Ah well, that is no problem.'

'Why me?' said Liz again, desperately this time. She needed answers.

'Because you are the one I want and the one I need.'

The one he 'needs'? Liz went quiet for a second as a thought occurred to her. She pulled herself together again and spoke, her voice still remaining strong. 'What about Tess, and Max's son?'

Once again Kivar looked at her surprised. 'Max's son? She didn't tell you? My, my Ava really hasn't changed.'

'Tell me what?' demanded Liz. Her eyes flying from the floor back to his face. All her fears melted away for a second, replaced with undeniable curiosity. She wanted to know. What was going on?

'Ah well, it's not my story to tell. Perhaps I will send Ava to you at some point. Anyway as for what we shall do with her. I think I'll leave that up to you to decide. After all you have been looking for a little revenge haven't you… And I would deny my queen nothing. No type of Ipleasure/I will be too much for me to give to you.'

Liz pressed herself back further against the wall her curiosity once again melting away into fear and revulsion. She silently cursed herself for standing where she was, there was no method of escape. He could advance on her and there would be nothing at all she could do to defend herself.

Kivar leered at her noting her stance and her averted, scared eyes, 'Fear? Yes I like fear. Fear is… good.'

Liz clamped her eyes shut trying to block out his words and his face. She didn't want to be here, she wanted to be at home. She didn't want to be with Kivar, she wanted to be with… with Max.

Suddenly she felt warm breath on her face. Her eyes flew open just to find Kivar staring back at her, a few centimeters from her face. 'You're so beautiful,' he said. His eyes raked over every centimeter of her body, once again making her feel dirty and used.

Liz shrank away from him as he lifted his hand to brush her cheek.

Cold. His hand was so cold.

She tensed her muscles and clamped her eyes shut preparing herself for whatever could come next. But it never came.

Instead she heard a curse from in front of her and opening her eyes she saw Kivar turn away from her, his eyes closed. 'How do you do this to me?' He demanded as though she should know the answer. 'Perhaps you told more of a truth than you realised. Perhaps you are Leandra, Goddess of Enticement.' He clenched his fists as if fighting off some unknown enemy. Suddenly he turned back to her. 'But you shall be mine this time Leandra. No one else's. Never Ihis/I again!'

Liz closed her eyes once again as he hurried from the room. Slowly she let herself slump to the floor, a tear pricking at the corner of her eye.

'Make's you think, doesn't it?' said Kyle suddenly.

'Huh?' replied Maria.

'I mean Liz and everything…'

'What?' said Maria, still looking confused.

'You know how's she's got out.' explained Kyle.

Maria just stared back at him like he was talking in Antarian. 'Have you been drinking something? Out of what?'

'Here, the abyss, everything!'

Maria raised her eyebrow still looking confused.

'You know how she's got out first! Got away. It's just I always thought that she would be the one of us that was in it for the long haul. You know her and Max and the soul mate thing. I mean it must have been serious, she dumped me for Ihim/I!'

'Oh!' replied Maria finally understanding.

Serena just snorted. 'Perhaps there's only room for one love in your life Kyle.'

Kyle turned to her, his heart beating quicker. Could she have felt it too?

Maria grinned at Serena, 'Yeah I see it too. I guess a love that big could be pretty self involving!'

'Yeah, after all not everyone finds the love of their life so close to home.'

Close to home? What on earth were they on about. Antar wasn't close to home! Antar was miles away. He hadn't found the love of his life close to home. 'What?'

'Oh Kyle, didn't you realise?' said Maria with a grin at Serena. 'The love of your life has been staring you in the face for so long and you just didn't see!'

'What? Who?'

Maria glanced at Serena. 'Shall we open his eyes to the love?'

Serena grinned back at her. 'Why Kyle surely you must have noticed how much you love…'

'IYourself/I' They both shouted at once and collapsed into a fit of giggles.

Kyle blushed crimson and turned away. Surely Serena didn't really think that. She couldn't think that! He wouldn't let her! Ever since she'd walked into the room and he'd dropped that bottle on his foot, well ever since she'd walked into the room, he'd know that she was the only girl for him. In this world or another he'd never look at another girl again not even Jody Ann Paterson. And that was promising a lot!

Serena looked up stifling her giggles. Her eyes fell on Kyle's hunched and dejected shoulders and she immediately felt sorry. She hadn't meant to upset him, it was meant to be funny. She didn't believe he really loved himself. Of course she didn't believe it. That just wasn't possible when all the while she was praying for his heart to be engaged on… well, be engaged.

Maria couldn't breathe, she swore in a second she'd pass out. That was just too funny. Serena was SO on her level. That girl had one hell of a sense of humour! She reached her hands up to brush the tears of laughter from her eyes and then paused. Why was she the only one laughing? It was really funny! Not just funny but REALLY funny. She raised her eyes and immediately caught sight of the look Serena was giving Kyle. Well now, she thought, that looked promising! That looked more than promising, that looked positively sold! And what about Kyle? Casting a glance over his hunched form she knew immediately how he felt. The normal Kyle would never have got annoyed about a joke like that. On 'In Love' Kyle would get annoyed like this. This looked great, she was SO in the mood for some match making!

Maria opened her mouth to speak to them as her cell rang. Both Serena and Kyle both turned immediately towards her, their eyes catching for a second and a deep blush filling both their cheeks. Maria began to fumble in her bag.

'Bloody bag… Where is it?… Aghh.. I know you're there… Just.. Ah-Ha! Hello Maria Deluca her- Mrs Parker, hi…' Maria turned to look in confusion at Serena and Kyle. 'Uh yeah, this morning… When? About half nine, I think… What's going on?…' Kyle and Serena watched as the blood drained out of Maria's face and her hand began to shake. 'Yeah sure, I'll get back to you if I hear anything.'

Slowly she lowered the phone away from her ear, placing it gently into her bag. 'We've gotta get out of here.'

'What's going on?' Demanded Serena but Maria was already out of the door. Serena started off after her.

'What about-' started Kyle pointing hungrily at the pizzas just being placed on the side.

'Just come on!' yelled Serena over her should at him.

Kyle turned indecisively towards the pizzas his stomach leading his mind.

'Come on!' shouted Serena and she ran along the path away from him.

Making a decision Kyle threw several notes at the pizza boy, grabbed the pizzas and ran after them.

Liz shivered, pulling her arms closer around her. She felt cold in the darkness. But she didn't want to move. She felt safe in the corner, no safe wasn't the right word, no where could be safe on this God forsaken planet but she at least felt a little more safe huddled in this small corner away from everything.

Kivar hadn't been back since earlier and now the sun had set and darkness had enclosed the room. It was cold, she knew that. And there were blankets resting just a few feet away but she didn't want to move and get them. She didn't want to move into the open. She just didn't want to move. If she lay still enough she could dream herself out of there, dream herself back into another world. A world where she would be safe. A world where there was no Kivar to hurt her and no mistakes to haunt her. Just peace.

Liz once again began to shiver. Kivar was everywhere here. She could hear his voice, smell him, sense him everywhere. But what was worse was that for all she knew he could be in the room, he could just be sitting in one of the darkened chairs watching her, waiting for the right moment to strike and do with her as he pleased.

She hated being so defenseless. There was nothing she could do to protect herself at all. Nothing she could do if he tried to hurt her.

She clamped her eyes closer together, screwing up her muscles until they felt like they would burst. She wanted darkness, but not this darkness. She wanted the darkness that had been her friend for the last two years. But this darkness wasn't the same. This darkness was her enemy. It plotted against her. Confusing her senses, causing her to panic. It drugged her. It enslaved her. It over powered her. It took over everything she was, destroying her.

But there was no escape from darkness. It was everywhere. Or at least I Liz's world it was. It had been building up since that day two years ago when Alex had died and soon, soon it would reach it's climax. Darkness would reign.

Max shot his eyes up at the door was flung open his muscles immediately tensing for action. If the FBI had found them-

'Maria,' exclaimed Michael taking in her flushed cheeks and short breath.

'What-' started Max as Serena ran in closely followed by Kyle with several pizzas in his arms.

'She's been taken,' sobbed Maria as she collapsed down onto the floor.

Everything seems to go in slow motion for the next minute. Michael ran to Maria side, shouting about if she was alright. Serena turned and dragged Kyle into the room slamming the door behind him. Adam started demanding answers from Serena and Kyle. Serena and Kyle started demanding answers from Maria. Michael began shouting at Serena and Kyle for upsetting an injured person. Adam began to jump around yelling at Michael to shut up. Isabel and Max watched in confusion. Kyle began to shovel pizza into his mouth and Michael began to shout at him for not paying attention.

'SHUT UP!' screamed Isabel at the top of her lungs.

A deathly silence fell over the room as everyone turned to look at her.

'Thank you!' she said impatiently.

'What's going on?' demanded Max finally.

Maria turned a tear stained face up to him. 'They've got her Max. She was going to get out and they got her!'

Max paled,' Who? Who's got her?'

'Who's got who?' demanded Michael looking confused.

'Liz,' whispered Maria.

Isabel drew in her breath sharply.

'What happened?' said Serena quickly before anyone could interrupt.

'I don't know,' replied Maria miserably. 'Her mom phoned. She never got there. She should have been there hours ago but she never arrived. And she hasn't phoned them and when they tried their phone it was turned off.'

Serena lowered herself into a chair. 'FBI.'

'You think?' said Max. He didn't want this to be true. Anything but this. Say she'd had enough and just gone out to the desert for some space for a while. Say she would just phone any second. She didn't deserve the FBI, no one did, but especially not her. She was the blameless one in all this. The FBI couldn't want her, shouldn't want her!

Memories of the white room began to fill Max's head. He pain, the indescribable pain. It had taken over his sense, blocking everything out. It was everything he could think, see, taste, smell. Just pain, pain and fear. He remembered the holographic head set. That torture had been worse than any kind of pain they could have given him. Liz lying there, just lying there, bleeding and it was all his fault…

'I don't know,' she replied honestly. 'But I don't think Kivar would risk coming to earth just for Liz. He'd take you guys, but not Liz. She's not that important on his scale of things.'

'What do we do?' asked Isabel, watching her brother out of the corner of her eye.

Serena looked at Max. 'This one isn't my call. It's up to you. You know how I feel about following destiny but I can't make you guys choose that over Liz.'

'And we're not going to,' said Maria defiantly. 'We've never been about destiny. We've been about us! Us as friends, us as a team.'

'A good soldier never leaves a man behind!' cheered Kyle heroically, smirking at the line from Toy Story. No one smiled at his vain attempt to cheer them up.

'So what are we going to do then Maxwell?' asked Michael.

Max looked up at them all. The light of defiance shining in his eyes. 'We're going to get her back and we're not gonna leave this planet till she's safe.'

Liz plunged further and further down. Choking, plunging, dying, screaming. The darkness engulfed her. She couldn't stop it, it was swallowing her from the outside but now it was coming from the inside too. She'd never be free. Unless… Unless they came for her. Unless they came soon, came and brought her light back. Unless Ihe/I came and took her out from the darkness.

Suddenly out of the darkness loomed a monster, coming closer, it's mouth open, ready to engulf her completely. To take her and bind her. The darkness was coming for her.

The silence of Kivar's palace was suddenly ripped apart by the sound of a woman screaming.


End file.
